Different Wavelengths
by SarahJaneA
Summary: This is an AU based on the idea of what might have happened if Wade and Zoe had met in high school (I am a sucker for a high school romance). If they seem a bit out of character it might be because I am trying to imagine what they would have been like in high school. I am planning for this to be a slow burn story with lots of build up before any serious Zade action.
1. Chapter 1

**_Author's Note: This is my first fan fiction. It is an AU based on the idea of what might have happened if Wade and Zoe had met in high school (I am a sucker for a high school romance). If they seem a bit out of character it might be because I am trying to imagine what they would have been like in high school. Some aspects of their adult personalities seem a bit inappropriate for freshmen in high school._**

**_There will be more explanation about how Zoe ended up in Bluebell in future chapters._**

She had no idea what people would be wearing at this new school. She could safely guess it would be nothing like what people wore at her old school – because that was a private school and had a strict uniform code. This was a public school. Plus it was in a tiny country town at the other end of the country. People here probably didn't even know half the brands her old classmates liked to wear when they got the chance. So she knew it would be a lot more casual, but how much more? Did the girls wear jeans or skirts? What about makeup? She was well aware that she was going to stick out like a sore thumb anyway as the new girl at a small country school, but no one wants to be the only girl wearing a skirt when everyone else is wearing jeans, or the only girl wearing no makeup when everyone else is perfectly made up. That would only make the whole thing worse; even more unbearable than it was already going to be.

She wondered what her mother would have said. Well, actually that wasn't helpful at all. She would have said that Zoe should dress to impress. Definitely makeup. Definitely heels. Make a splash. And that was the last thing that Zoe wanted to do. She sighed and decided that she would wear something that she always felt comfortable in. These people were probably going to think she was weird anyway so she may as well be comfortable. It could be like her armor.

So what did she feel comfortable in? Well, heels made her taller, which gave her confidence, but she could be clumsy and she did not want to risk falling over on her first day of school. Sneakers were too casual for her – plus they made her feel awkward unless she was actually exercising. She decided on her maroon Gucci loafers – perfect. Now that she had decided on the shoes everything else was pretty easy. After all, the shoes make the outfit.

Harley called out from the top of the stairs, "Zoe, I'm just going to get the car out of the garage. I'll meet you out the front when you're ready."

"Okay," she replied. She was not at all sure how she felt about Harley, but she had to admit he was making an effort to give her plenty of space. He wasn't rushing her, and he wasn't coming anywhere near her room. At least that was something. As long as he didn't interfere with her plan she thought she would be able to get along with him just fine for as long as she needed to.

Ten minutes later she stepped out of the house onto the front porch. She had teamed her Gucci loafers with some twisted seam Calvin Klein jeans and a simple white top with a cute Black DKNY bolero jacket. Her old school had had a strict no jewelry policy, and she wasn't sure what the policy was going to be here so she had gone without any just to be safe. As for makeup, she had put on a little mascara and some lip gloss and left it at that. She wanted the teachers on her side so that they would agree to let her take the rather heavy course load she had picked out for herself. She saw Harley waiting in his navy blue sedan in the driveway to the side of the front yard. He smiled shyly at her through the open driver's side window. She was about halfway down the steps when she realized that the front door was not locked. She didn't have a key though, so when she got to the car she said to Harley, "Um, I couldn't lock the door because I don't have a key, so it's still unlocked." Harley looked at her in confusion for a second and then he smiled and gave a light chuckle.

"Oh, we don't worry about locking doors much here in Bluebell. I can't remember the last time I used that key. In fact, I'm not sure I even recall where I put it…"

Zoe was a bit taken aback. But she just mumbled back, "Oh, okay then I guess I'm ready," before walking around to the passenger side of the car and hopping in.

Less than ten minutes of silence later they were pulling up in the high school parking lot. This wasn't the first time she had wished that it took a little longer to get around Bluebell. She would have liked some more time to prepare for this moment.

Harley looked over at her and smiled. He had a kind, concerned look in his eyes as he asked her, "Shall we go in?"

"Sure," she replied. It sounded a bit shaky so she tried again once Harley had gotten out of the car and closed the door, "Sure." That was a bit better. What was that thing her Mom used to say to her clients? "Fake it until you make it. If you act confident then people will think you are confident." Well Zoe hoped that she could act confident because she didn't feel confident at all.

She got out of the car and forced herself to stand up straight and square her shoulders before walking up the path with Harley. As they got closer to the buildings she thought how much this school was unlike her old school in New York. For one thing it was only two stories high. At least it shouldn't take her too long to learn her way around.

Harley opened the door for her and they were immediately greeted by a loud chanting:

"DO IT!

DO IT!

DO IT!"

She walked through the door and saw that they were in a covered walkway lined with lockers that wrapped around an enclosed courtyard with wooden picnic tables and benches. She guessed it must be where people ate lunch. The chanting was coming from a crowd of people facing the middle of the courtyard, where a tall, blond boy about her age was standing on top of one of the tables. He was wearing worn blue jeans and a gray t-shirt and holding up a plastic water bottle containing some murky looking liquid. The boy started to speak.

"Alright, Alright! Hush will ya?! The moment y'all 've been waiting for is here! Wade Kinsella is about to chug this appetizin' lookin' concoction of pond water, milk, hot sauce, maple syrup, coffee, and mayonnaise… and collect that there lovely pile of money kindly donated by all of the idiots who don't think I can do it!" Zoe stood on her tiptoes and glimpsed a grimy looking baseball cap overflowing with bills. She looked sideways at Harley and was surprised to see that he was trying to suppress a smile.

"Aren't you going to stop him?" she asked. "He could get sick… Actually, he's definitely going to be sick if he drinks that!"

Harley just shook his head and said, with a smile in his eyes, "Oh it's just Wade being Wade. Those Kinsella boys have stomachs of steel. Besides, I doubt if I could stop him if I wanted to – he's about as stubborn as stubborn gets."

Zoe looked at him in shock. She had never seen an adult happily admit that they had no control over a kid. And she had certainly never seen an adult, a doctor at that, stand back and let someone do something that was this obviously stupid.

Meanwhile, the boy, Wade, had continued on with his show.

"Well then, let's do this thing!" he cried, and the kids cheered as raised the bottle to his lips and started to drink. They started up their chant again: "DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!"

Zoe watched the level of the murky liquid in the bottle go down surprisingly quickly. She saw that his eyes were screwed shut and his Adam's apple was moving. She couldn't believe it, but he was actually going to do it. He was going to chug the whole bottle in one go. And she felt queasy just watching him.

And then he was done. He had drained the bottle and he held it up high and turned it upside down to show that he had finished it all. He kept his eyes tightly shut until he had swallowed the last of it though. Then he opened his eyes, threw the bottle high in the air and leaped off the table with a cheer. She lost sight of him in the crowd as everyone rushed in to congratulate him and she turned to Harley with a look of absolute bewilderment on her face.

"Why on earth would anyone do that?" she asked, kind of to Harley, but mainly to herself.

Harley still looked amused as he replied, "Well Wade Kinsella has never been shy about being in the spotlight. And he has always had a knack for cooking up crazy schemes. I can't even begin to tell you the number of times he has turned up at the clinic with some crazy injury and an even crazier story explain it."

Zoe had never met anyone like that. She was still trying to process it all as they walked along the walkway towards the door at the end labeled "Office."

Thirty minutes later they came out of the office with her timetable and a photocopy showing where the classrooms were. They had agreed to let her take all the classes she wanted to after seeing the stellar transcript that had been sent over from her old school, which meant that everything was on track. The principal led her down the walkway and they said goodbye to Harley at the door they had come in through earlier. He smiled kindly at her and said, "Have a good day. I'll be back to pick you up after last period." She was so nervous by now that all she could do was mumble a quiet, "Okay." He shot her one last concerned glance and then he was gone and she was following the principal down the walkway again.

They reached a door labeled 103A, which she knew from her photocopy was her homeroom, and before she had a moment to compose herself the door had been opened by a woman in her early thirties, wearing a floral skirt and blouse. Not only was she wearing an actual blouse, but it was buttoned up, tucked in, and she had a broach pinned to it near the collar. Zoe suddenly felt a bit too fashion forward, even in this outfit that she had so carefully planned to be casual. She did not even want to look at what the other kids were wearing, so she focused her attention on the teacher.

"Zoe Hart. What a pleasure to meet you. I'm Miss Foster. Now come on in and take a seat. Your desk is that one in the middle there."

Zoe tried to smile as she was now forced to look out at her new classmates and locate her desk, but she wasn't exactly successful. Her face was twisted into a strange kind of grimace as she saw the empty desk in the middle of the classroom and quickly headed that way. She could not wait to sit down and not be the center of attention anymore. She noticed that the boy she had seen chugging that awful concoction was sitting in a desk diagonally in front of hers. She couldn't believe he was sitting in class looking just fine. She would have thought that he would be bent over a toilet bowl somewhere being violently ill. Instead he was looking at her appreciatively, smiling widely, and she felt her cheeks get hot.

As she swung her enormous Jansport backpack off her back so that she could sit down she accidentally slammed it into the head of the guy in the seat beside hers. He had mousy brown hair and a nice smile and looked like a jock, but strangely he yelped like a baby when her bag hit him. She got all flustered and started apologizing and trying to maneuver her bag out of the way without causing more trouble, while the boy rubbed his head and tried unconvincingly to reassure her that it hadn't hurt a bit. She regretted putting all those heavy textbooks in her bag now, as she struggled to get out of this situation gracefully. She could feel her face burning red by this stage. Then suddenly she was aware of the boy in front standing up and turning around.

"C'mon George Tucker. Man up! How could a little thing like this possibly hurt a big manly football player like yourself?" he grinned as he shook his head in mock disdain at the boy and reached for her bag. A look of surprise came over his face as he felt the weight of the bag.

"Girl, what the heck is in this thing?! It must be about as heavy as you are."

But despite his complaints about how heavy it was he scooped it up with ease and settled it on the floor next to her desk. She shot him a look of thanks and sat down, her face still burning.

Wade winked at her and gave her a grin as he sat back down, but he didn't think he caught it. She was looking down at her desk, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

Damn she was pretty, he thought. She was a tiny delicate little thing with long brown hair, worn loose. She had on some funny little jacket thing and jeans, but her white top under the jacket was tight and he could see that she had a great little figure.

"Mr. Kinsella, could we have your attention please?" Miss Foster's voice brought him back and he swiveled to face the front of the room and grinned at the teacher.

"I'm right here Miss. Sorry, I wasn't aware I was needed…" he said cheekily. She just sighed. She was used to Wade.

"So class, welcome to senior high school. I know that since most everything but a few of the classrooms and teachers are the same as for junior high it might not feel like a very big deal, but I can assure you it is. From this point on things start to get serious. Your elective subjects, and your extra-curricular activities are more important now and you will notice that you will get quite a bit more homework." They all groaned at that. "It won't be long before those of you who are planning to head to college will be filling out applications, or meeting with scouts as the case may be…"

Wade tuned out. He wouldn't be heading to college. He had three years left before he would be out in the real world and he intended to make the most of it. The way he figured it these three years were a chance to have some fun before he would have to get a full-time job and start acting like an adult. Of course some of that adult stuff he was looking forward to. He certainly wouldn't mind being able to go to bars without worrying about fake IDs. Plus some of the older girls he had his eye on wouldn't let him near them until he was out of school – others did not have such high principles.

He slouched in his chair as Miss Foster droned on and cast his mind back to yesterday afternoon, and the fun he'd had with Lou Ann in the back of his Dad's truck… Lou Ann would have been a senior if she was still in school, but she had dropped out in her freshman year. She had told Wade she was training to be a beautician and he knew she worked at the salon in town, but based on the haircut she gave him before they'd messed around yesterday he didn't think she was very far into her training. In fact it seemed quite likely that she was still just sweeping the floors. She was quite experienced in some other areas though – must have been thanks to that guy she had been dating from Filmore a while back. Suddenly, he was distracted from his daydreaming when he heard Miss Foster say the name "Zoe Hart." That was the new girl. He wanted to find out more about her.

"So, Zoe comes to us from a very good school in New York City and she has recently moved down here to live in Bluebell. As I'm sure many of you are already aware, her father is Doctor Wilkes, and he has asked 'specially that you all give Zoe a warm welcome and help her adjust to life here. Zoe, am I right in thinking that your first class today is English?"

When Zoe nodded yes, Miss Foster continued, "Well then I'm sure Wade Kinsella here will make sure you find your classroom, given that he has already shown us how he is capable of carrying that heavy bag of yours."

Wade was surprised. Teachers didn't normally ask him to do this kind of thing. They normally asked George. But maybe Miss Foster thought that would make Zoe feel uncomfortable after the whole hitting him in the head incident. Anyway, he sat up straighter in his chair and said, "Yes Ma'am."

The bell rang and he was quick to pick up her bag before she could do any more damage with it. She looked a bit surprised and when they got out into the walkway she turned to him and reached for the bag, saying, "Here, I can carry that."

"No need," he said as he swung it over his shoulder. "So, New York City, huh?"

"Yep. Have you ever been?"

He laughed. "I can't say I've ever been any further than north than Atlanta. I sure would like to go someday though, 'specially if all the girls are as pretty as you are."

Her face turned red again and she looked away. Okay, it looked like he was going to have to tone things down if he was going to get anywhere with Zoe Hart. She sure was easily embarrassed.

Then she surprised him by asking, out of the blue, "Why did you do that, before?"

"Um, what… taking your bag?"

"No! Chugging that disgusting mixture in the courtyard!"

"Oh that?! You saw that? Well I thought it would be a bit of fun… Plus Lemon Breeland bet me I wouldn't be able to do it and I do enjoy proving that girl wrong!" He grinned at her but she was just looking at him like she had no idea where she was coming from.

"But weren't you worried you'd get sick? I mean what if you'd vomited all over yourself right there in front of everyone? That would have been pretty embarrassing…"

He laughed at her seriousness. "Well… truth is I wasn't thinkin' that far ahead. I guess when you decide to chug something that disgustin' it pays not to think on it too much, ya know?"

She was still looking at him like he was from another planet, but they had reached the English classroom. He motioned to a couple of desks over on the other side of the room and they made their way over. He put her bag down in the aisle when she sat down. Right away the teacher came over and started talking to Zoe, so Wade was sat down at the desk next to her. When he did he was reminded of the thick wad of money in the wallet in his back pocket. This new girl had had him so distracted he had forgotten all about it, but now that he remembered he couldn't wait to count it up. He reckoned that if he could get his Dad's government check before his Dad did this month they might just have enough now to pay the electric bill, settle the tab at the Dixie Stop, and put at least twenty bucks' worth of gas in the truck. Not bad for chugging one bottle of goop.

**_Thanks for reading. Please do review and let me know what you think. I would really appreciate encouragement to keep going but I am open to constructive feedback as well. Also, I am Australian but have tried to write this using American English. Please do let me know if anything strikes you as inappropriate._**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's note: Thanks so much to all those of you who took the trouble to review. I was not expecting such positive feedback and it definitely pushed me to publish this next chapter as soon as I could. I'm glad that no Aussie English had crept in so far - let me know if it does! I hope you like this chapter as well.**_

Zoe let out a breath she hadn't even known she was holding as she heard the start of the answering machine message, "You've called Candice Hart. I'm afraid I am not available to take your call at the moment. Please leave a message and I will get back to you." Thank god she had timed it right and her mom hadn't picked up.

"Um, hi Mom… It looks like I missed you. Bummer. I guess I'll try and catch you another time. Bye." Now she could be honest when she reassured Harley that she had called her mother but that she hadn't been able to catch her. She had never been a good liar, and lying to Harley seemed extra wrong for some reason. Somehow he was just too nice for that. Of course he didn't need to know that she had purposely called her mother's home number at 11am on a Saturday, right when she knew her mom had a standing appointment at the nail salon.

She left Harley a note in case he dropped back from the clinic to check on her:

"Tried calling Mom but got answering machine. Heading to the library to study. Will be back by dinnertime. Zoe" She knew it was a bit dry and businesslike but she couldn't bring herself to write "Dear Harley" or "Love Zoe." It just wasn't her style and, as sweet as Harley had been to her over the last few weeks since she had arrived in Bluebell, it just wasn't their style either.

She didn't really know why she liked to go all the way to the library to study. It wasn't as if Harley's house wasn't quiet enough. Even when Harley was home the loudest it got was when he had the football on TV, and it wasn't even really loud then because he kept the volume low. He seemed to just have it playing in the background while he read in his favorite armchair. She suspected his faithful following of the games might have less to do with a love of football than it did with maintaining the rapport he had with his patients, but she didn't bring it up with him. She didn't want to start trading confidences. That might interfere with her plan.

In any case, she did not need to go to the library for peace and quiet. She just liked it. It was an old house that had apparently been donated to the town a long time ago. Since it was an historical building the "Memory Matrons" made it their business to ensure it was kept in pristine condition, but it still smelled like old books, and instead of the sterile cubicles she was used to in the libraries in New York, this one actually had old writing desks tucked away in various spots throughout the building. The Bluebell library was so underused that sometimes she worried it might be closed down. One advantage of the fact that virtually no one used it though was that she always had her pick of the writing desks, and she had quietly been working her way through them one at a time. So far she had tried out all the desks on the first floor and today she was looking forward to studying at one of the desks upstairs. She thought that she remembered one that was tucked away in a little room with a window seat. She imagined that the room might have been a bedroom once, but now it housed the library's musty old collection of ancient engineering texts and she didn't think many people even knew it was there.

As she lugged her backpack full of books to the library she found her mind wandering to her Mom, and her Dad. She knew that Harley was supposed to be her "real" dad now, but it just wasn't that simple. Until a couple of months ago she hadn't even known about him. She had, naturally, thought that the man who was married to her mom, the man who had been there since she was born, was her dad. But then her mom had destroyed everything, and sent her world spinning. It turned out that everything she had always believed had been a lie.

She had come home from a week long study retreat and let herself into their apartment. She was surprised to see both her mom and dad sitting at the seldom used dining table, obviously waiting for her. Still, it was a nice surprise and she smiled at them saying, "Aww, Mom! Dad! I didn't expect you both to be here. Does this mean we're going out for dinner? Can we get sushi? The food at the retreat was pretty gross…"

Then she noticed that they both looked really serious. She got worried. Was one of them sick? She was just about to ask what was up when her mom said, "Zoe, come and sit down. We have something we need to talk to you about."

She slowly walked over and sat at the head of the table, so her mom was on her left and her dad on her right. She was really scared now and her stomach felt weird. Divorce. They must be getting a divorce. Before she could think any further than that, her dad suddenly spoke.

"Your mom wants a divorce. She's met someone else and she's leaving me."

So they _were_ getting divorced. It honestly didn't come as that much of a shock. She knew their marriage was far from fairytale material. But she had thought it would be the other way around. It was her dad who was always going away on trips for work. If anyone was leaving she thought it would have been him. In fact, sometimes she had wondered if he had a girlfriend. He was away so much it seemed like he might. But he looked devastated. She looked at her mom and saw that she was very upset with her father.

"Ethan! That is not how we said we would tell her. I can't believe you would say it that way. You make it sound like it's all my fault…"

Her dad just shrugged and looked at her bitterly, "Well it's not me that asked for this. You're the one who wants to move on."

Zoe just sat there. It wasn't the first time she had sat there in the middle, trying to tune out one of their arguments. But this wasn't just an argument. They were talking about divorce. And apparently her mom had met someone. What did that mean? Was her mom going to get remarried? Would Zoe be a step-child? She was starting to freak out when it got even worse. Her dad had started to raise his voice and said angrily to her mom, "Go on then, you tell her the rest. Hopefully you can do a better job than I can, because I cannot find a way to tell her that will not break her heart."

What more could there possibly be? She looked at her mom in confusion and her mom would not look her in the eye. She did, however, start to speak, "Zoe darling, there's something I never told you… I was actually hoping this would never need to come out, but your father insists…"

Her dad cut her off with a snort, "I cannot believe that you are trying to make this my fault! After all that I've done. I kept your secret for you for five years! I tried not to let it destroy our family, but now apparently _you_ are ready to move on to better things, and I will not help you keep this secret anymore. It is time to come clean to Zoe Candice!" That was a big speech for her dad and once he had finished speaking it seemed as though the air had been let out of him. He sat down at the table again, but he would not look at Zoe.

And then Zoe's mom had told her about Harley. She told her that they had met on a cruise when she had been engaged to Zoe's dad, and that they had had a brief relationship. But that she had come back from the cruise and carried on with her plan, marrying Zoe's dad despite the fact that she was pregnant with Zoe. And her dad had not known about this until a blood test had revealed the secret when she was ten. Zoe's world was spinning. She felt completely lost. Zoe's relationship with her mom had always been difficult, but with her dad she had felt she had a real bond. She had always adored him, looked up to him, and wanted to be like him. He was the reason she wanted to be a doctor. He was the reason that she worked so hard at school. She was determined to become a cardiothoracic surgeon, just like her dad. Except now it turned out that he wasn't her dad. And it turned out that if he was not her dad Zoe did not know who she was anymore.

Ugh, why had she let herself replay all of that again? She was usually very good at keeping herself too busy to think about it. Zoe Hart did not allow herself to wallow in self pity. Instead she made plans, and then she executed those plans with formidable determination. And the part of her plan that she should be focused on right now was her studies. And _that_, she reminded herself, was why she was at the library. She swung open the door to the old building with a rush of energy as she started to think about everything she needed to do in order to get where she wanted to be.

She avoided the area with the computers, where occasionally she saw kids from her class using the Internet, and headed straight upstairs and towards the room with the window seat. As she got closer she was disappointed to see that someone was already using the desk in that room. She didn't get close enough to see who. Instead she quietly turned around and settled in at a different writing desk at the other end of the second floor. Unfortunately this desk was close to an open window and as she studied she was all too aware of the sounds of kids hanging out in the town square just down the road. She knew most of them from school but she was not a part of their group. She didn't belong to any group. She reminded herself that that had been her choice. She had chosen to remain an outsider, to avoid the distraction that new friendships would bring, and to focus on her plan. Her plan that would have her back in New York by the next semester.

If anyone had asked her, she would have denied that it was lonely, this plan she had in place. But it definitely was. And sometimes she wished she didn't need a plan. Sometimes she wished that she could be carefree and just see where life took her. Like Wade Kinsella, the boy who had taken care of her on her first day at school. They had hardly spoken since that day, but she had watched him, and he appeared to be completely at ease. It was if he didn't have a single worry or fear.

She had tried to figure out which clique he belonged to, but he seemed to float from group to group. He was obviously good friends with George Tucker, the boy she had hit with her bag that day, and she often saw him hanging out with George and his girlfriend – a strange girl whose real name was apparently Lemon, of all things. But she had also seen him doing crazy stunts on a beat up old skateboard with the skaters who were always spread out all over the steps, and she had overheard him talking cars or engines or something with the group of scruffy looking boys who, with their John Deere caps and flannel shirts, could only have been farmers' sons. She saw him high fiving the surfer kids and playfully teasing the odd group of "popular" girls who called themselves the "Belles" and dressed like stepford wives in training. Those girls were snooty, and they pretended to be offended by his teasing if they were with their fellow Belles, but when they thought no one was looking they giggled and batted their eyelashes at the slightest bit of attention from him.

Harley had been right about Wade Kinsella not minding the spotlight. He certainly liked attention, and it seemed that there was no shortage of girls willing to give him that attention. In the couple of weeks she had been at the school she had seen him with his arms around so many different girls she had lost count. It seemed that he never went very long without flirting, teasing, asking out, or full-on making out with some girl.

She didn't know why she paid so much attention to the activities of Wade Kinsella. As was her way, she tried to work it out logically. The conclusion she came to was that she found him interesting because he was about as different from her as you could get. He was loud, charismatic, laid-back, and comfortable in his skin. She was quiet, withdrawn, uptight, and felt like she didn't belong anywhere – least of all in this small Alabama town. Plus, he was obviously very experienced with the opposite sex, whereas she was yet to even have her first proper kiss.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's note: Thanks again to all of you who are reading, and especially those who have offered reviews. I really appreciate it. The last chapter was a lot of background and not so much Zoe and Wade but hopefully this one will make up for that. Let me know what you think! **_

Wade knew it would be her as soon as he heard the footsteps on the stairs of the library. It wasn't like he had some kind of sixth sense or anything. It's just that almost everyone who used the library, or at least the second floor, where there were no computers, was old, and in most cases a lot heavier than Zoe Hart. So when he heard the quick, light footsteps, he guessed it would be her. Besides, who else would be headed to the library on a beautiful day like this? He knew from watching her at school that she was real smart and that she studied a whole lot. She seemed to spend most of her lunch breaks at school with her nose in a textbook, so he should have guessed that she would spend her Saturdays at the library. If it had occurred to him earlier that she would be there he would have found somewhere else to go, because he did not need someone asking him what he was doing right now.

He braced himself to be interrupted and tried to think of some plausible explanation for why he, of all people, was in the library on a sunny Saturday morning, but then he heard the footsteps stop. He waited for them to start again, but when they did they were quieter, more deliberate, and they were heading away from where he was. He risked a glance over his shoulder and out the doorway and saw that she was lugging that huge Jansport backpack she always had with her down the hallway to the other end of the house. He didn't know if she had recognized him, but either way she clearly wasn't keen for a chat and that suited him just fine.

It wasn't that he didn't like her. From what little he knew of her so far, he did. She was certainly intriguing, and she was gorgeous of course – nothing had changed on that front. But he had seen her watching him over the last few weeks and she did not seem too impressed with what she saw. Wade was no stranger to attention, and he got more than his fair share of looks from all kinds of girls. Some were blatant, others were coy, but when Zoe looked at him she always seemed to have that expression he had seen when she had asked him why he would chug a bottle of disgusting goop. He doubted she realized it, but her face was an open book, and when she looked at him it said that she just did not get him. It was obvious that she thought they were on completely different wavelengths.

Which they no doubt were, he thought as he tried to force himself to get back to concentrating on the task at hand. She was super smart, stunningly pretty, always dressed impeccably, and it was clear she liked to keep to herself, except in class, when she would have answered every question the teachers asked, if only they had let her. Plus she was the daughter of Bluebell's favorite doctor. Meanwhile, he was a loud, boisterous, joker whose clothes were simple at best, tatty at worst, and the only time he spoke up in class was when he had some half-smart comment that he knew would get some laughs. And to top it all off his dad was Crazy Earl, the town drunk.

Speaking of drunk, he really had to try to figure out this paperwork. He looked at the number again. $250.00. How the hell was he going to come up with that kind of money? Just when Wade had thought they were on top of the bills, for the moment anyway, Crazy Earl had to go and pass out during a drinking binge in Mobile. Some well-meaning citizen had called an ambulance to take him to the E.R. and next thing he knew they had received this bill for $250.00. Wade had called the number at the top of the bill in confusion. Shouldn't this have been covered by their insurance (which luckily they had, thanks to some arrangement his mother had made before she had died)? Apparently not. The person on the other end of the phone tried to explain that there was an alcohol exclusion clause or something, but Wade wasn't really able to process what she was saying because all he could think was that if this wasn't a mistake he was going to have to figure out a way to get his hands on $250.00.

Over the last few years he had always tried to pick up work when he could, delivering papers, helping out in the lumber yard, washing dishes, picking whatever crop was in season; basically any kind of work that was available at the time. But none of those jobs paid much and it was going to take him a hell of a long time to scrape together $250.00. Damn Earl and his drinking.

He could not find any mention of an alcohol exclusion clause in the pages and pages of fine print and he was starting to lose it. He was about ready to throw something when he heard a thud from the other end of the hallway, followed by a scraping sound and then some frustrated muttering that sounded like it included more than a few curse words. He couldn't help but be glad for the distraction, as he slowly got up from his chair, being sure to put the bill and the health insurance papers in his backpack as he did. He wasn't going to leave that stuff lying around for someone to stumble across.

He walked down the hallway and couldn't help but smirk when he saw what Zoe Hart was doing. She was standing on a wobbly old chair, on tippy toes, stretching as far as she could, in an attempt to reach the cord for the blinds. The sun was streaming in through the window on this side of the building and he could see why she would want to close the blind, but she was tiny and had no hope of reaching that cord at the top of the casement windows; it was about three feet above her pretty little head.

He decided to step in before she hurt herself.

"Looks like you could do with a helpin' hand…"

He realized his mistake when she jumped in surprise and let out a small squeal. She obviously hadn't heard him approach and he had unwittingly given her a huge fright. She lost her balance on the chair and he could tell she was headed for a fall. Before he knew what was happening he found himself scooping her up in his arms and whirling her around to deposit her safely on the floor. She landed lightly and looked up at him with that bewildered look he was already too familiar with. Somehow his rescue attempt suddenly seemed a bit over the top. He probably should have just grabbed her arm and steadied her or something. He wasn't the blushing type, but his cheeks colored a bit as he scratched at the back of his head with one hand and tried to regain his composure.

"Sorry 'bout that. I never meant to give you a fright…"

She looked a bit flustered herself. He usually enjoyed it when girls squirmed in his presence. If it had been any other girl he would have used this as an opportunity for a bit of a flirt, teasing them about how they must have enjoyed being cradled in his arms or something. But somehow with Zoe Hart it was different. He had this weird urge to make her feel less uncomfortable, so instead of calling attention to the fact that she was standing there red cheeked and with her mouth hanging open, he sprang up on the chair and reached up to grab the cord and pull the blind down.

"How's that?" he smiled as he got down from the chair and put it back in front of the writing desk, which was covered in what looked like science textbooks and pages and pages of detailed notes.

"Better. Thanks," she replied. "I knew this was going to happen actually, which is why I wanted to use that desk at the other end of the house, but someone was already there, which is weird, because usually this place is deserted…," she was rambling, she knew, when he interrupted her.

"Yeah, um, sorry about that…"

She looked at him in surprise. "That was you?!"

"No need to look so surprised – I _can_ read you know!" He was a bit pissed off now. I mean was it really so shocking that he should be found in a library?

"I know. I mean I'm sure you can, but… it's just that…"

"Just that what?" he cut her off and there was a sharp edge to his voice now. She had hit a sore spot. "Just that 'cause I'm not in your physics class, 'cause you don't see me studyin' in lunch break, and 'cause I don't carry a ton of books with me wherever I go like you do, I must be dumb?"

She didn't know what to say. She didn't think he was dumb exactly, just maybe not very academic. But she probably shouldn't say that, she supposed. She was at a loss as to what to say to rescue the situation, and then she looked up to see that he was already halfway down the hall. He seemed pissed and she wasn't really sure that what she had said warranted such a reaction. She called out weakly, "I didn't mean…" but she wasn't sure how to continue, and as he came back out of the small room with his backpack he gave her a tight smile that didn't reach his eyes and said, "Don't worry about it," before he disappeared down the stairs.

Well that was weird. She didn't know what to think. She knew that sometimes she upset people without meaning to, but even when she replayed the conversation in her head she couldn't tell what she had done wrong. I mean it wasn't _that_ weird to be surprised to see him in the library, was it? She was so confused.

After Wade left she tried to keep studying but she just couldn't focus. In the end she gave up and headed back home. Back to Harley's house, she corrected herself. What was she thinking calling it home? This was not her home. It was an unwanted but unavoidable detour on her path back to New York; as long as she stuck to her plan.

She still believed her policy of not sharing confidences with Harley was the right way to go, but she couldn't help asking him about Wade as they sat down to a dinner of quiche and salad on the back porch that evening. She really didn't like puzzles that she couldn't solve, and Wade did not make sense to her. Maybe Harley could share some information that would help her figure out what his deal was, and then she could stop thinking about him and return to focusing on her plan to get back to New York.

Zoe was not the most skillful conversationalist at the best of times, and when the topic was something out of her comfort zone like this she was even worse. The conversation started off clumsily.

"So, um, remember that guy we saw at the school? Wade something?" She knew perfectly well that his last name was Kinsella, but she was trying to give Harley the impression that she was not overly invested in the topic. Somehow she felt that Harley saw right through her act, but, always the gentleman, he didn't call her out on it.

"You mean Wade Kinsella?" he asked mildly.

"Yeah – that's it. Kinsella," she carried on with her act. "What's his deal?"

"I'm not sure I know what you're getting' at…?" Harley looked mildly amused, but then he must have decided to help her out because he said, "What is it that you wanted to know about Wade?"

"Well, I ran into him at the library today…" Harley raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"I know, right?!" she exclaimed, pleased to find that Harley was surprised by that too. "I mean he just doesn't seem like the study in the library type! But when I said that to him… And you know, I didn't even actually say that… I didn't get that far! Anyway, he kind of freaked out and got all snarly at me…"

She looked at Harley and was surprised to see that his expression had suddenly hardened. "What do you mean 'snarly'?" he asked in a voice she had never heard him use before, and she realized he had gone all protective. She had noticed this trait several times in the men down here, even in the short time that she'd been here. Southern men were apparently very protective of the women in their life. She was quick to attempt to get the conversation back on course.

"Oh, he wasn't aggressive or anything. He just seemed a bit more upset than was necessary. Well a lot more, really. For some reason he seemed kind of hurt…"

Harley looked relieved when she clarified that Wade hadn't threatened her or anything. Then he let out a sigh and said, "Poor Wade. That boy deserves a better hand than he's been dealt."

Okay, now she was even more confused. As far as she could tell Wade had been dealt a pretty good hand in life. He was the most attractive guy in the whole school, probably in all of Bluebell actually, he was athletic, he had a bunch of friends, he was the most confident person she had ever come across, and the other day she had even discovered that he could sing and play guitar. So he wasn't academic – big deal. With all the other stuff he had working in his favor he probably didn't need to be.

"I don't get it…"

Harley had finished his dinner now and he shifted his chair around so that he was gazing out over the backyard when he spoke. It was as though he felt uncomfortable sharing Wade's story with her directly.

"Well, you see, Wade's family life is complicated…" Oh. Well, she knew all about complicated families. Could his situation really be any worse than hers?

"His mom died of cancer a few years back, and without her around they sort of lost their way. Wade's dad started drinking when he lost her, and he's never really stopped. Then last year Wade's brother Jesse left to join the military. So now it's just Wade and his dad, which can't be easy for him."

"But he always seems so carefree," she said, more or less to herself.

"Yes, you're right, he does. He does a pretty good job of making it look like everything is fine. It must be exhausting for the poor boy. Actually, I'm really glad you brought this up Zoe. I'm ashamed to say it's been too long since I checked in on him and Earl. I will have to remedy that…"

Zoe didn't know what to think. The ideas she had had in her head about Wade had suddenly all been flipped around. But even after what Harley had explained, she didn't really understand why Wade had been so upset about her being surprised to see him in the library. She debated whether or not to ask Harley for more insight. She was tempted to just leave it, but she somehow felt that she wasn't going to solve this puzzle on her own so she decided to just ask Harley straight out.

"But that doesn't explain why he got so…," she chose her words more carefully this time, "_upset _when I was surprised that he'd been in the library. Why would that bother him so much?"

Harley sighed again as he contemplated her question. Finally he said, "I suspect Wade is very aware of the fact that if things were different at home he would have had the opportunity to be a lot more successful academically. That boy is sharp as a whip – always has been. His mom used to say that he had overtaken her by the time he reached the third grade. It wasn't quite true of course – Jackie was no dummy. But even back then there was no doubt that he was plenty bright. People seem to have forgotten that about Wade."

It took Zoe a long time to get to sleep that night. Normally she took the time before she fell asleep to think back over what she had achieved that day and plan out what she was going to do the next day. But that night her head was filled with the two very strange conversations she had had that day, and when she did finally sleep she dreamed strange dreams about lost little boys and screened in porches, about falling from great heights, and about being caught in reassuringly strong arms.


	4. Chapter 4

When Zoe woke up Sunday morning and went downstairs she saw that Harley had left her a note saying that he had gone to church. He had asked her if she wanted to join him the first week she was in Bluebell, but she had declined, and since then he hadn't raised the topic again. Zoe was grateful for that, and for the fact that he hadn't woken her this morning before he left – she hadn't been able to get to sleep until after 3am.

Normally she studied while Harley was at church, but she was still not really feeling like her normal self so she decided she would do some exercise instead. In New York she had been somewhat obsessive about exercise, working out on the elliptical trainer in her room several times a week, always while watching recorded episodes of Sex and the City. She loved that show.

However, since coming to Bluebell she had not been exercising at all, unless you counted gym class – which she did not. And as a future cardiothoracic surgeon she felt she had a responsibility to keep in shape. Unless she was mistaken, there was no gym in Bluebell, and she preferred to exercise without other people around anyway, so she decided to go for a walk/jog. She'd take it slow for now, exploring some of the roads and trails on the outskirts of town, where she should have more privacy – especially with everyone at church. She could always up the pace once she was more familiar with the area.

As she put on her training shorts and tank top and laced up her sneakers, she tried to imagine implementing her old exercise routine here at Harley's place. The thought was ridiculous. They didn't even get HBO, but if they did there would be no way on earth that Zoe would have watched a show like Sex and the City in Harley's house. He would die of shock and she would be so embarrassed she wouldn't be able to enjoy it. In a weird way it seemed kind of strange to her now that she'd never worried about her parent's thoughts on the show when she had watched it in New York. Still the relationship she had with her mom and dad was completely different to whatever it was that she and Harley were.

She headed out of the house and down the road in the direction that led away from town, realizing half way down the block that she hadn't given a single second's thought to locking the door as she left. Wow, maybe was picking up some Bluebellian ways. She would have to watch out for that for when she got back to New York.

As she jogged along she tried to come up with a plan for how to tackle the Wade situation. She wanted to apologize to him, but she didn't want to make a big deal out of things, or let on that Harley had told her about why he might have reacted the way he had. She just wanted to clear the air and get rid of any awkwardness. But how the hell was she going to do that?

She still hadn't come up with any ideas twenty minutes later. She slowed to a walk as she made her way up a pretty, sloping road that curved off to the left ahead of her. So this was the country. If she didn't have her discman earphones lodged firmly in her ears blocking the sound she bet she would even be able to hear birds chirping or something. She had to admit it was very pretty around here though, especially these tree-lined roads. Maybe she could get used to jogging outdoors instead of exercising while listening to Carrie and her friends discuss their adventures on Sex and the City. When she got back to New York perhaps she could jog in Central Park… Of course she'd have to carry mace or something with her, but still, it might be nice.

Then, out of nowhere, something – no, some_one_ - slammed into her so hard that she went flying back onto the road, cracking her head into the asphalt road when she fell.

"Woah! Are you okay? Was that your head that made that noise?!" She heard his voice before he came into her line of vision, as she gingerly tried to sit up. It was Wade. He was wearing a pair of shorts and sneakers, but no t-shirt and he was covered in sweat. Obviously he pushed himself a bit harder on his runs than she did.

She surveyed the damage. She had pretty much landed on her butt - and her head, which was throbbing. A massive lump was forming fast on the back of her skull, and she had a fairly bad scrape up the back of her right thigh, from around where her shorts ended down nearly to the back of her knee. It was bleeding quite a bit, but it didn't look too deep. She looked around for something to staunch the blood flow but there was nothing. Wade wasn't even wearing a shirt that she could have used.

"Zoe? Are you alright? You're bleeding…" Wade asked again, looking worried, and suddenly she felt tears roll from her eyes – completely out of her control. That made her embarrassed, which in turn made her angry. She took it out on him.

"Do I LOOK alright Wade?! What the hell were you thinking, running that fast around a corner without even checking to see if anyone was coming the other way?" She knew, even as she said it, that she was being completely unreasonable. When she had set out this way on her jog she hadn't expected to see even a passing car – after all, everyone was supposed to be in church. No doubt the last thing Wade had expected was to come across a fellow runner. But she couldn't stop herself. "Aren't you supposed to be in CHURCH anyway, with everyone else?!" she spat at him.

To his credit, he didn't take the bait. He smiled slightly as he said, "Not a big churchgoer, I'm afraid…"

She was not amused. "And why the hell aren't you wearing a shirt? We could at least staunch the blood flow if you had a damn shirt!"

He tried somewhat successfully not to smile at how crazy she was acting as he said, "I tell you what: my house isn't far away. I'll run and grab something. I'll be back in a few minutes." He had started running as he said the last sentence and before she knew it he was out of sight. She yelled out, "Do NOT leave me here Wade Kinsella!" But there was no answer as she heard his footsteps sprinting away.

By the time he got back, maybe ten minutes later, she had calmed down considerably and was feeling rather embarrassed about her outburst. She had retrieved her discman from where it had fallen in the grassy verge of the road and it was completely fine. She wished that she had fallen there too, instead of on the hard asphalt. She also wished she hadn't gone quite so crazy at Wade.

When he pulled up in an ancient truck, wearing a t-shirt now, she smiled at him sheepishly before cautiously getting to her feet. He jumped down from the truck and helped her over to the passenger side, where he gave her a hand towel for the scrape on her leg and physically lifted her into the cab of the truck. The only other time she ever remembered being lifted like this was when he had saved her from falling the day before at the library, and it felt a bit surreal. What was it with him and the chivalrous rescuing?

She knew the trip would be short so she decided to jump right in to her apology. It was like ripping off a bandaid: best to get it over with as quickly as possible.

"I'm sorry about acting like a psycho bitch before," she said, sneaking a sideways look at him.

"Not a problem," he replied with a slight smirk at her choice of words.

"And listen, I'm sorry about yesterday as well," she continued. "I really didn't mean anything by what I said."

"It's okay. I s'pose I reacted more than was necessary. Guess I've got a bit of a chip on my shoulder… and a short fuse… Anyway, I think it's my turn to apologize now, don't you?" he said, nodding towards the blood stained towel she was holding to her thigh.

She shrugged at him, replying, "Accidents happen."

Zoe looked out the window to avoid his gaze, which seemed a bit intense, and was surprised to see that they are driving straight past her street – well, Harley's street.

"You just passed Harley's street," she tells him.

"I know. I'm taking you into town. Dr. Wilkes would skin me alive if I didn't bring you in so that he could check you over himself."

She laughed. "Harley doesn't exactly strike me as the kind of person to skin someone alive! He's always so… mild."

"Most of the time, yeah," Wade agreed. "But believe me, he can be scary when he wants to."

She raised her eyebrows at him doubtfully.

"No, seriously," he carried on. "I remember this one time, when my brother Jesse purposely disabled the brake on our go-kart and then encouraged me to take it for a spin down the road in front of our house…"

Zoe gasped in shock – that was a terrible thing for a brother to do! "Oh my god, did you get hurt?"

"Well, luckily the wheel alignment on our little vehicle wasn't the best and it veered off the road into a huge patch of poison ivy. Dr. Wilkes gave me somethin' that fixed me up right away, but let me tell you, Jesse was scarred for life by the time the doctor was done with him! He was terrifyin'! The weird thing was he never even raised his voice once. No siree – I'm not to risk getting on the wrong side of Harley Wilkes!"

She laughed. But then she realized what that meant. There was no way she was going to let him pull up in front of the church and have the whole town crowd around while Harley tended to her injuries. "Okay, I get it: going to see Harley is non-negotiable. But can you please park around the corner and just get him to come and meet us at the clinic? I don't want to be the center of attention in Town Square on a Sunday morning!"

"I think I can do that," he agreed.

Wade understood why she wouldn't want the whole town looking on when the doctor checked her over, so when they reached the center of town he pulled into a street a block over from the church and got out of the truck. He spotted Harley straight away, talking to Agnes from the bakery right in front of the church, so he walked over and interrupted them politely, asking Agnes if he can borrow Harley for a while.

Wade was more aware than most of how much some people in Bluebell love to gossip, so he made sure to get Harley out of earshot before telling him what was going on. Harley wanted to go straight to the truck to check on Zoe, but Wade explained that Zoe would prefer to stay out of the spotlight and just meet at the clinic, and Harley reluctantly agreed to go along with his suggestion.

Thirty minutes later Harley emerged from the consultation room and into the waiting room, where Wade was flicking through an old fishing magazine. As usual he looked as though he didn't have a care in the world, but he was actually trying very hard to distract himself from all the memories of the time he had spent here during his mom's long illness.

"She alright, Dr. Wilkes?" he asks, standing.

"She's fine. Thank you for taking care of her. If you hadn't been there it would have taken her a long time to walk into town."

"I hadn't been there she wouldn't have fallen in the first place," Wade responded matter-of-factly. "In any case," he carried on, "she wouldn't have come into town. She was all ready to just go home and take care of everything herself… but I knew you'd want to look after her yourself."

"You're right about that. Actually, you did well to convince her to do what you suggested - she's usually pretty determined to do things her own way…"

"Yeah, I must say I've noticed that," Wade smirked. "But, I don't know… She didn't really fight me once she knew I wasn't going to dump her in the middle of town square to be fixed up in front of the whole town."

"Hmmm," Harley said thoughtfully, "well it seems she trusts you. Thank you Wade – really."

"Like I said, it was my fault in the first place."

"Even still…"

Just then Zoe came out of the consultation room.

Harley looked at her and asked, "Zoe, would you mind if Wade drove you home? I'll be home soon myself, but everyone saw me rush off after talking to Wade and I just want to go back and let them know that everything is okay – before they start making up their own version of events. I am guessing you would rather go straight home…" he gestured vaguely at her thigh and Wade watched as she realized for the first time that her already short shorts had ripped where she had fallen. The edge of her underwear was now visible through the rip, and she quickly agreed that yes, she would prefer to go straight home.

She followed Wade out to his truck, climbing into the cab by herself this time, as Harley again assured her he would be home just as soon as he could. Wade was fairly sure that Harley was going back to Town Square to tell everyone about Zoe because he knew that if he didn't they would jump to conclusions and assume that Wade had come for his help with Earl in some kind of alcohol-induced trouble, again. Harley was good man, always looking out for people and trying the best he could to defuse gossip when he had a chance – and that was no easy feat in Bluebell.

The drive back was uneventful, and Wade made an effort not to look at Zoe because he could see she was feeling self-conscious about the revealing rip in her shorts. There it was again, he realized: that strange urge he had to make her feel less uncomfortable, instead of teasing her and using it as an opportunity to flirt. He wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

Wade had made sure Zoe was settled in at home and following the doctor's orders to rest up and put ice on the lump on her head, and was just about to get in his truck to go home when Harley pulled in to the driveway.

"That was quick," Wade said to him.

"Yes. I know she's fine, but I wanted to make sure she was resting. Thank you again for your help Wade."

"Not a problem," Wade replied, and climbed into the truck. He was ready to head off, but then Harley came over to the driver's side window, which was open, and said, "I've been thinking of paying your dad a visit Wade. How is he doing these days? I haven't seen him in town much lately."

"Nah, he doesn't get out much – which is probably good thing."

"Well I figured it might be hard to get him to come in for a checkup, so, if it's alright with you, I thought I might drop by later and check in on him."

"Sure – just to let you know though, he might not be in the best shape for receiving visitors."

Wade knew that Harley would know what he meant. He had always been good about dealing with Earl. He didn't try to stick his nose in where it wasn't wanted, but he kept an eye on Earl's health and had always tried to look out for them. Suddenly Wade made a decision. It wasn't his way to ask for help, but he still hadn't worked out the $250 medical bill situation and, being a doctor, Harley would be sure to know about things like alcohol exclusion clauses. More importantly, Harley knew how to respect people's privacy.

"Actually, Doctor Wiles," he said uncomfortably, "I was wondering if I could ask you a favor…?"

"Of course, Wade. What can I do for you?"

"I'd rather we left the specifics until you come over, if that's alright?" He raised his eyes to the front porch, where Zoe had come out to see why it was taking Harley so long to come inside.

"Sure thing, son. In that case I'll come around later this afternoon." His face didn't give much away but Wade got the impression that Harley didn't mind in the slightest that Wade had asked for his help. He wasn't looking forward to sharing such private information with someone, but at the same time he somehow felt under a bit less pressure now that he knew Harley would help him figure out what was going on.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Author's note: Once again thank you all for reading. Thanks especially to those of you who have reviewed – I really appreciate it. I know that this is turning into a real slow burn story and I am grateful for your patience. I hope you continue to stick with me because I feel like it is more realistic (and more fun) for a teenage love story if things move kind of slowly. _**

When Harley arrived, Earl was passed out drunk on the couch, so Harley suggested that they deal with Wade's question first. He led Harley to an old table and chairs outside and went inside to get the papers. It was excruciatingly embarrassing for him to have to tell someone about this. Wade knew it wasn't his fault his dad had gotten so drunk that someone had called an ambulance, but he felt ashamed to have to admit that they didn't have $250 on hand to just take care of the problem.

He couldn't bring himself to explain the situation to Harley, so he just handed him the papers silently. Dr. Wilkes was a smart man – he should be able to figure it all out based on the paperwork. And if he needed Wade to tell him more, well he would ask.

It seemed like an eternity to Wade as he sat there watching Harley look through everything thoroughly. He was so uncomfortable that he had to fight the urge to interrupt Harley to ask how Zoe was doing, about whether he'd seen the game last night, about anything really, as long as it would allow him to pretend that Harley wasn't here helping him with the mess that was Earl.

Eventually Harley sighed and looked up from the papers with a sad expression in his eyes. He didn't try to sugar coat it – he looked Wade straight in the eye as he said, "I'm afraid there's no mistake. Your insurance doesn't cover this because it was the result of alcohol intoxication. The best we can hope for is to work out some kind of payment plan."

Wade nodded and looked down at his feet to hide the worry he knew Harley would be able to see on his face, wondering what kind of payment plans they offered. He sincerely hoped that they would agree to payments of $20 a month or less, because he could not conceive of a way to come up with anything more than that.

"I thought as much. Thanks for confirmin' it for me though. I wasn't makin' much headway decipherin' all that insurance fine print, I can tell you."

"Well, Wade, that stuff is purposely written so as to be pretty much unintelligible to their customers. It took me three times reading over it to find the alcohol exclusion clause buried in there. Why don't you let me call them tomorrow from the clinic and see what I can do about that payment plan?"

"Oh, I couldn't ask you to do that, sir. I can take care of it."

"I know you can Wade, but you shouldn't have to. Besides, it doesn't make much sense to me, but for some reason just saying that you're a doctor can sometimes change their attitude entirely. Let me have a go, okay?"

"Well, alright… In that case… I appreciate it."

They stood up and went inside. Wade went and put the papers that Harley didn't need in his bedroom where Earl wouldn't mess them up or, worse, spill beer all over them, and braced himself for the next unpleasant job of the afternoon: rousing Earl from his drunken slumber. But when he got back out to the living room he was surprised to see Earl already sitting up on the couch next to Harley. He looked terrible, as usual, and he was obviously still drunk, but he was awake and he was listening as Harley explained that he wanted to check Earl's blood pressure and a few other things, since it had been a while since he'd come into the clinic. Wade looked at Harley in surprise and the doctor made a subtle gesture indicating that Wade should leave them alone. He was more than happy to do that, and he went back into his room and flopped onto his unmade bed. One good thing about having an alcoholic for a parent, he thought bitterly, was that they never got on your case about keeping your room tidy, or anything else. Wade could do pretty much whatever he wanted and Earl would not say a thing. Hell, he probably wouldn't even notice.

But of course Wade wasn't really free to do whatever he wanted, because he had to make sure the electricity didn't get cut off, that they had food in the house, that the truck was kept running, and most importantly that his dad didn't ever get behind the wheel of that truck.

It hadn't always been like this. When his brother had still been around at least there had someone else to help out. And of course when his mom was still alive their lives had been completely different. He would never have gotten away with leaving his bed unmade if she was there – let alone some of the other things he did.

Still, there was no point thinking too much on that. She was gone and this was their situation. Wade's thoughts could be put to their best use by figuring out how to earn some extra cash to pay that bill. He started to run through all the options in his head. There was the lumber yard, and the garage, and maybe he could ask if they needed a hand down at the docks…

He must have dozed off, because next thing he knew Dr. Wilkes was standing at the door to his room, saying his name. Wade jumped up, running a hand over his face, "Sorry, I must have fallen asleep. That was rude of me. Is everything okay?"

"It's fine. And yes, everything's okay. Your dad is in remarkably good shape for someone who does such a bad job of taking care of himself. Although I'm afraid that won't continue if he keeps on like this…"

"Well, I'm not holding my breath for him to change," Wade said, sounding more defeated than he had intended. He made an effort to sound brighter as he said, "Thank you for comin' out though. I really do appreciate it. And he would too if he was in his right mind."

"It's nothing, Wade. In fact, I should have been out to check in on you two much sooner than this."

"I'll try to get him in to the clinic more often…"

"Well that would be good, but if you can't I'm more than happy to come out and see him," Harley replied, but he seemed distracted as Wade walked out to his car with him.

"Actually Wade," Harley said suddenly, "I was wondering if I could ask you a favor…?"

Wade couldn't imagine what Harley might want his help with but he said, "Sure."

"Well, you see, Zoe will be turning sixteen soon, but she doesn't have her driver's permit yet. I suppose that in New York kids don't feel the same urgency to get their license as they do down here. Anyway, I was thinking that since she is living here now, she should get her permit and start learning to drive. Then she will be ready to get her license when the time comes."

Wade nodded, but he didn't really see what all of this had to do with him. And he didn't understand the part about kids in New York not being keen to get their licenses – that was just weird.

"The reason I bring it up is that I was thinking that maybe you could give her some driving lessons…?"

Okay, now Wade was really confused. Fathers did not make a habit of asking him to teach their attractive 16-year-old daughters to drive. He knew that Harley was new to this whole parenting business, but still…

"I don't want to put any pressure on you," Harley continued, "but Zoe and I are still getting to know each other really, and I don't want to mess things up by trying to teach her to drive. I've heard Brick's stories about trying to teach Lemon and it sounds like a minefield…"

Wade couldn't help but smile at that. Teaching Lemon Breeland to drive would indeed be a nightmare.

"Well, I doubt Zoe would be as bad as Lemon, but sure, I'd be happy to help out." Wade couldn't deny that he was looking forward to spending a bit of one-on-one time with the doctor's daughter – even if he knew it would never go anywhere. He was smart enough to realize that she was out of his league.

Harley gave Wade a huge smile, as he let out a breath. He looked relieved. "Really? You would? Oh, that's great. That really does take a weight off my mind."

Wade thought that Harley was being a bit dramatic, but he guessed that this bond he was building with Zoe was very important to him, and it couldn't be easy to suddenly take on the role of "dad" when your daughter was sixteen. Plus, Harley was no spring chicken.

"So, I was thinking $25 dollars a lesson… Does that seem fair?" Harley continued.

Wade was taken aback, and then his expression hardened. He had no intention of taking charity. "Dr. Wilkes, I appreciate the thought, but I can't accept your charity. I'll find a way to come up with the money for that bill, and I'm happy to teach Zoe to drive if that's really what you want, but I can't let you create a job for me out of thin air and then offer to pay me crazy high rates…"

"No, Wade I didn't mean…" he broke off as he saw the closed off expression on Wade's face. He took a breath and looked Wade in the eye again as he said, "Look Wade, I know that you are too smart for me to put one over you, so let me be straight with you."

Wade just stood there, and his expression hadn't softened a bit.

"When this idea first occurred to me a big part of it was that I thought it would be a good solution to your problem… But the more I thought about it, the more I realized what a good idea it was. I would like Zoe to learn to drive and I do _not_ want to teach her myself. I actually looked into some driving schools in Mobile just the other day, but I'm not sure how we'd find the time or handle the logistics when it came to getting her there and back, and they are much more expensive than $25 a lesson. Now I am well aware that you aren't much older than Zoe, but I also know that you are one of the few people she seems comparatively comfortable around. And I know that you have been driving since long before you got your permit, let alone your license, and that, despite the act you put on for the town, you deal with more responsibility than most fully-grown men. So I actually think that you're just the right person to take on this task. As for the rates, I have a feeling that Zoe may not be the most agreeable student – so you may well find that $25 a lesson doesn't seem like such a good deal once you get started. I don't know who taught you to drive, but I can tell you some of the stories about Lemon are downright scary!"

Wade couldn't help but laugh at that. Harley was so genuine that Wade actually believed him. He still thought that asking him to teach the prettiest girl in town to drive, and paying him $25 a lesson for the privilege was crazy, but it seemed that for Harley it was a good deal. He would be able to give Zoe the gift of driving lessons without the trauma of actually teaching her to drive himself, and by getting Wade to do the teaching he saved the hassle of going back and forth to Mobile. He still thought that the rate was a bit too high, but he could avoid the feeling that he was taking charity by making sure he more than held up his side of the bargain: he would be the best driving instructor the doctor could have hoped for, spending as much time as was necessary for Zoe to learn everything she needed to know. After all, Harley hadn't stipulated how long one lesson had to be.

"Well, when you put it like that…" Wade said, "Alright, I'll do it."

"I'm so glad Wade. I'll tell Zoe when I get home tonight. Then you two can work out the details of when and where between yourselves."

Wade nodded.

"Oh, and Wade," Harley continued, "I think your truck could be a bit tricky for Zoe to learn in at the start, so I was thinking maybe you could use my car for the lessons. Would that work?"

"That sounds like a good plan, sir. The ol' truck does have a few quirks that a learner driver might find confusin'."

Zoe tried to act pleased when Harley told her, as soon as he got home, that he had arranged for Wade to teach her to drive. She did not want to hurt his feelings, and he was so obviously pleased with himself, but she was actually not very excited about this plan. She had never had any great desire to learn to drive, and she didn't see much point in the whole thing if she would be heading back to New York soon – but of course Harley did not know that she planned on moving back to New York. So she smiled and thanked him and assured him that she would work out the details with Wade when she saw him at school the next day.

It was only as she lay in bed that night trying to get to sleep, that she finally admitted to herself that her lack of enthusiasm about the driving lessons had very little to do with not being interested in learning to drive. The idea had not made her feel bored or disinterested – it had made her feel nervous. And, if she was being honest with herself, the reason for those nerves was the idea of spending so much time with Wade, alone. She knew that it was silly, but she was coming to the reluctant conclusion that she might be developing a bit of a crush on him. It could most likely be blamed on all the times he had rescued her recently. And as soon as she acknowledged the idea of this crush that had been lingering vaguely at the edge of her thoughts, it suddenly seemed more real.

She had had crushes before of course, but this one was different. Her previous crushes had been on celebrities, or clients of her mom's, or interns working with her dad, which meant that none of them had come into her orbit very often, if at all. The main problem with having a crush on Wade was that even though the chances of it developing into any kind of romance were just as slim as they had been with her previous crushes, this was Bluebell: she saw him _all_ the time. And now, thanks to Harley, she would see him even more.

Some people might think that constantly seeing the object of your crush was a great thing, but not Zoe. She knew that Wade giving her driving lessons was bound to intensify the crush, and that was not what she wanted. What if he, or other people, realized her secret? They would think she was just as silly as all those other girls she had seen at school who obviously liked Wade. Actually, she would look sillier than them, because at least they were the kinds of girls that Wade went for. She had seen him flirting with them and more. Meanwhile, it was obvious that Wade did not see her that way. He didn't act the way he did around other girls when he was with her. He probably thought of her as a little sister type – and that image would be reinforced now that he was going to be teaching her to drive.

No, she wouldn't be able to handle the embarrassment if anyone figured out that she had a crush on him. So how was she going to tackle this? Zoe knew from experience that you couldn't just stop crushing on someone because you wanted to, but she couldn't remember how she had overcome her crushes in the past. Would she just have to wait until it passed on its own, and hope that no one picked up on it in the meantime? That did not sit well with Zoe's impatient personality at all.

She let her mind wander to some of the guys she had liked in the past. There had been Tim, an aspiring surgeon training under her dad one year. She had thought he was perfect until she had heard him explaining one day, at length, why he believed that men always made better surgeons than women, because of their apparently superior brand of self-control. What a jerk he turned out to be. Then there was that musician client of her mom's – Brendan - who had looked so cute whenever she had seen him come into her mom's office. When she finally got a chance to talk to him she was disgusted to find that he didn't believe in deodorant, or brushing his teeth. Her infatuation with him was over in an instant…

That gave her an idea: the key to getting over her silly crush on Wade was to find his fatal flaw, or flaws. Once she found out that he had long, disgusting fingernails, or that he picked his nose, or couldn't hold up his end of a conversation to save his life, she would be cured and could relax again. She felt better now that she had a plan.

As she drifted off to sleep she tried to imagine what his flaw might be. He definitely didn't have long fingernails - she had noticed this morning that his nails were trimmed very short… And she knew that he didn't smell bad from those times he had carried her…

**_Author's note: What do you think? I liked the idea of having Zoe crushing on Wade because a lot of the time it has seemed very one-sided (on Wade's side) on the show. I figure that a younger Zoe would be less able to deny her attraction – but let me know if you disagree!_**


	6. Chapter 6

_**Author's note: Sorry for the delay in posting this latest installment. I struggled a bit with this chapter but I like the way it turned out in the end. And again thank you to everyone who is following and reviewing - I really appreciate it and it does push me to keep going when I get stuck!**_

What to wear? What to wear? Over the last few weeks Zoe had slowly worked out her Bluebell wardrobe issues. She had come up with a good balance between New York Zoe, not sticking out too much, and being comfortable. But now she was back where she had started. It seemed that admitting to herself the night before that she had a crush on Wade had suddenly brought back all the anxiety about what to wear to school. And of course it only made matters worse that she also had to choose something that would work with the injury on her leg - she did not want the whole school gawking at her thigh, and she couldn't wear anything that would rub against it either.

In the end she decided on a pair of loose capri pants in a silky material and a cute black top. She couldn't stop herself from adding some hoop earrings and a little perfume – after all, she knew she would definitely be talking to Wade today: they had to organize her driving lessons. Oh god – she was so screwed. At this rate the whole town would know about her little crush by lunch time. She removed the earrings, but there wasn't much she could do about the perfume…

XXXXX

"Beep beep!"

She jumped when she heard the voice right behind her and spun around. Of course it was Wade, and of course she instantly turned bright red.

"So… looks like I'm going to be your driving instructor," he grinned, kindly ignoring her red face. "I brought you a present!" He handed her a tattered copy of the driver's guidebook – the one she would need to study for the written test to get her learner's license.

She couldn't help but laugh as she pulled a newer copy of the same book out of her bag and said, "I'm afraid Harley beat you to it!"

"Wha… How? I only spoke to him about this yesterday afternoon!"

"Apparently he went into the Dixie Stop first thing this morning and picked it up. It was on the table when I came down for breakfast."

"Wow – he's really excited about getting' you drivin' huh?"

"I guess so…"

"Well study up – you don't want to let your teacher down!" he smiled at her.

"Actually, I'm supposed to talk to you about that." She didn't know how to do this whole bantering thing that seemed to come so easily to him, so she shifted gears into business mode. "When shall we have our first lesson?"

He didn't seem too thrown by her sudden formality. "How 'bout this afternoon after school? I can drill you as prep for the written test."

"Okay. But we'll have to do it at my house – my dad is supposed to call sometime between 4:30 and 8:30."

"Harley's gonna call you at home sometime between 4:30 and 8:30?" he looked confused.

"No, not Harley – my dad. I mean my real dad. Or I guess my fake dad… You know what I mean!"

"Um, I have no clue what you mean - but that's cool! We need to study at your place – got it. See you in the parking lot after school?"

"Sure."

"Oh – and how's your leg? And your head? I hope it doesn't hurt too much. I feel real bad about all that!"

"Oh it's fine – well on the way to recovery."

"Well I sure am relieved to hear that! Okay – I'll see you after school then."

As he walked off she couldn't help but admire the way his jeans hung off him. He was seriously hot! Even if she hadn't had a crush on him she probably would have thought that. Then she shook he head and tried to clear her mind, but something was bothering her about the conversation she had just had. Why had Wade said that he didn't know what she meant when she mentioned her dad? That was weird. She had just assumed that everyone in Bluebell knew her story, or Harley's story… But maybe they didn't. And if they didn't know the true story, Zoe dreaded to think what they might have come up with on their own. She decided she would ask Wade about it this afternoon.

XXXX

She still hadn't gotten used to the way men – and boys – down here insisted on opening doors for you all the time. But they did it anyway, and she was going to have to get used to it quick because she couldn't go swooning every time Wade opened the door for her if they were supposed to have driving lessons on a regular basis. And that was even more true when it came to keeping him from noticing her crush.

So, as she climbed into the truck, she decided to go into business mode again before she could swoon anymore and quiz him during the drive to Harley's place.

"So, I have a question for you," she said as he started the engine and they left the school parking lot.

"Okay – shoot!" he raised his eyebrow at her and grinned.

"Well, you know how this morning you said you had no idea what I was talking about when I said about my dad… Well what did you mean by that?"

"I meant that all I know is that you're Harley Wilkes' daughter. I don't know anything about real dads or fake dads."

"Really? But surely the town must have gone nuts with gossip when Harley suddenly announced that he had a 15-year-old daughter! Didn't he tell them the story?"

"Nope – Harley's never been a fan of gossip, and people know that, so they don't bring it up around him."

"Hah! They don't bring it up around _him_. But they do talk about it, right? What do they say?"

For pretty much the first time since she had met Wade, she saw him look uncomfortable.

"Oh – I'm not the right person to ask… I try to be like Harley and stay out of it all…"

"Well, that's very noble, but there's no one else I can ask, so spill! Please…?"

He looked undecided, but then he smirked and said, "Well, I did hear this one theory that your mama was the trapeze artist in a travelling circus, who Harley hooked up with when they passed through town 16 years ago, and that she only contacted him about you now because the circus is set to tour Russia and she couldn't take you with her…" he was looking at her sideways, trying to gauge her reaction.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me?! That is the single most ridiculous… Oh wait – you _are _kidding me! That was a joke, right?"

"Umm no – that's Dash DeWitt's theory. But Dash is kinda famous for his theatrical flair!"

"Unbelievable!"

"Most people just assume that Harley must have fallen in love with a New York girl when he went on some cruise back in the day, and that he knew about you all along but didn't tell the town because you never came down here."

"Well that's pretty close to the truth. What's their theory about why I'm in Bluebell though?"

"Well there are a whole bunch of theories about that… At first, some people thought that you must have gone off the rails in New York, and that you'd been sent down to Bluebell to straighten you out. But since you don't exactly seem like a wild child, I think most people just assume that your mama can't take care of you anymore for some reason." A dark look passed over his face for a moment and Zoe assumed that he was thinking about his own mom not being around anymore.

"Well, I guess they're kind of right then," she said in a sad tone.

"She sick?" he asked gently.

"Ha! – no! Not unless you count being lovesick! She…"

"It's okay – you don't have to tell me. I didn't mean to be nosy. I meant what I said about tryin' to stay out of the gossip."

"No, it's okay… She fell in love with this guy Rodriguez. He's one of her clients – a struggling artist type. Next thing I know she decides he is "the one" and announces that she's divorcing Dad and Rodriguez is moving in!"

"Wow! I take it you're not a fan of this guy then?"

She laughed bitterly, "Uh no! He's only about ten years older than me and likes to tell me about how they didn't get much sleep the night before because they were up all night _making love_." Wade gave a low whistle of surprise and she couldn't stop her face from turning red at the fact that she had mentioned of sex in front of Wade, but at least her embarrassment distracted her from the image of her mom and Rodriguez in the throes of passion. "Plus, he's not such a struggling artist now that he's installed in our apartment in a very nice part of Manhattan, which seems kind of convenient, you know? So no, he's not my favorite person. They wanted me to live with them but there was no way _that _was going to happen…"

"And your dad? I mean your dad that's not Harley?" he asked gently.

"Well, yeah, obviously I wanted to live with him. But he accepted a job that has him based in Germany and flying all over Europe all the time, so logistically it just wasn't possible. And so, that's how I ended up in Bluebell…"

"Huh, well their loss is Blubell's gain, hey?!"

"I don't know about that…," she laughed.

"Well, Harley surely seems to feel that way. I've never seen him lookin' so happy." And somehow Zoe couldn't help but smile at that.

XXXX

Wade was blown away. He had always had this idea that smart people were born smart and dumb people were born dumb, and that was that. But after less than an hour of sitting at Harley's kitchen table helping Zoe to prepare for the written learner's permit test he was discovering that there was a lot more to it than that. Oh she was smart – there was no question or doubt about that. But she was even smart about being smart. She explained to him that she was something called a visual/kinetic learner, which meant that she learned best by looking at pictures or diagrams and by physically doing things. So they had been working through the guidebook, together drawing little pictures to confirm her understanding of everything, and she was picking it up so quickly it was amazing. He wished he'd known about this trick before he'd spent so much time memorizing all the answers when he'd taken his test. Assuming that it would even apply to him of course.

He noticed that she kept checking the time and looking at the phone though. He guessed she was really looking forward to talking to her dad. After a while he suggested they take a break, and while they were sipping on ice tea and eating some cream buns that a grateful patient had given Harley, he asked her about her learning tricks.

"So this whole visual/kinetic thing… Is this one of those things that everyone in New York knows about but that hasn't made it all the way down to Alabama yet?"

"Nope - not that many people pay attention to it up there either. It's just that my parents send me to a study retreat during the summer holidays every year and they told us about it there. Everyone did a questionnaire that told them what learning style suited them and then we learned all these different study techniques that would suit our particular style. I have the questionnaire upstairs – do you want to try it?"

"As long as everyone does have a style… I don't want to do the questionnaire and get results that say I'm just not real bright and no learning styles will work for me!" He said it in a joking way, but he was only half joking. She just said, "It doesn't work like that. Come on – I'm pretty sure I know where it is."

Next thing Wade knew he was being led upstairs to her bedroom. The first thing he noticed was all the charts and posters on the wall. They all seemed to be science-related: labeled diagrams of the various parts of the human body, etc. It would have surprised him, except now he knew about the visual learner thing so it made perfect sense that she would have images of the stuff she needed to learn all over her room. The next thing he noticed was that she had a _lot_ of clothes. They were spread all over her bed and hanging over the chairs, and the closet doors were open revealing even more clothes. She seemed embarrassed by it – as though she had forgotten she had left the room like that.

"Sorry about the mess! I was feeling a bit indecisive this morning…" she said, avoiding his gaze as she tried to clear some room. He sat on the newly cleared spot on her bed and looked around. Even apart from all the charts and diagrams, it wasn't a very girly room. Wade had been in his fair share of girls' bedrooms and in his experience there was usually at least some measure of girly decoration, or, if the girl in question was rebelling (as they often were when they let Wade into their rooms), there might be posters of people their parents wouldn't approve of – like Marilyn Manson. But not in this room. In fact, apart from all the clothes, there wasn't much that was personal at all. There was a large desk with a computer and a printer, and on each side of the desk were bookshelves filled with text books and binders. The only personal thing he could see was a framed photo of Zoe, aged about five, dressed up as a doctor. She was standing in front of a tall man also dressed as a doctor, who had his hands on her shoulders and he could tell from the decorations in the background that it was Halloween.

"Is that your dad?" he asked.

"Yep."

"He's a doctor too?"

"Yep."

"I guess your mom likes doctors, huh?"

He said it without thinking, but for some reason it cracked her up.

"I guess she does! I never really thought about it. But yep - she _must _have a thing for doctors"

He looked at her confused. How could it not have occurred to her? Both her biological dad and the guy her mum had married were doctors. He knew she was smart enough to see the correlation. His confusion must have shown because she quickly started to explain.

"It's just that I don't really think of them as belonging to the same group. I mean Harley's a small town GP and my dad is like this world-class surgeon…"

Wade felt a bit hurt on Harley's behalf when he heard the way she said that. Harley might be a small town GP, but he was a good man and he was obviously determined to be there for his long lost daughter. Meanwhile, it sounded like her fancy surgeon dad had up and left the country right when she needed him the most. Still, it wasn't his place to say anything, so he left it and changed the subject.

"Any luck locatin' that questionnaire? I mean if not, it doesn't matter. It's not like I'm that into studyin' anyway…"

"Yep – here it is. And the cool thing about figuring out your learning style is that it's kind of perfect for people who aren't into studying. I mean it makes studying less painful – more fun!"

He really didn't know what to make of Zoe Hart. Sometimes she seemed so young and sheltered and kind of unsure of herself, and then other times it seemed like she was this wise, sophisticated type with all the confidence in the world. He must have gone too long without saying anything, because next thing the Zoe that was unsure of herself was back and she was blushing and fidgeting and saying, "Wow, I am such a nerd, aren't I? I must have sounded like a school counselor or something!"

"You sounded smart, "he said honestly. "Now hand that there questionnaire over, will you? Never know, it might just be the key to unlocking the hidden nerd in Wade Kinsella!"

They both laughed at that.

XXXX

"So as it turns out, apparently I'm a visual/kinetic learner too – same as Zoe." Wade told Harley later that night. Harley had come back at around 7, and had immediately invited Wade to stay for dinner. Although Wade had said no at first, he gave in when Harley pointed out the chicken pot pie on the kitchen bench. Harley assured Wade that it would take Zoe and him forever to work through such a huge pie alone. He said that patients often gave him food to take home and he always felt terrible when he couldn't eat it all before it went bad.

Wade had not had chicken pot pie since just after his mom died, when every man and his dog had seemed to show up with hot dishes, and his mouth was watering at the thought of it. So he had stayed. And now he didn't want to leave. It was going to be very hard to go from this - him, Harley, and Zoe sitting around the table on the back porch, telling stories and laughing like it was the most natural thing in the world - to his house, where he would no doubt find his dad drunk out of his mind. The very best he could hope for was that Earl would already be passed out. But, like it or not, that was his reality, so he reluctantly stood up and told them that he had better get going.

Harley looked at his watch and said, "My goodness, is it 9:30 already? It seems I've been enjoying myself so much I forgot to do the responsible adult thing and send you home to do your homework!" He smiled. "But seriously Wade, you are welcome to join us anytime. Like I say, we have a steady supply of home cooking and I can't imagine that your cooking could compete with Shula's chicken pot pie…"

"No sir, it cannot. To tell you the truth I eat a whole lot of chilli and hamburgers – so I might just take you up on your kind invitation sooner than you expect," Wade smiled.

Zoe looked relaxed and happy as well and he thought again how pretty she was. He was about to go inside and grab his backpack when she asked him to wait there for a minute, so he sat back down. When he heard her footsteps going up the stairs he said quietly to Harley, "She said her dad was s'posed to call, but he never did. I got the feelin' she was really looking forward to it as well… She gonna be alright do you think?"

Harley sighed and looked at Wade, "I don't know Wade. I don't know... I can't tell you the number of times she's told me that she was expecting a call from him, and to my knowledge he hasn't called the house once since she moved here. I just can't understand him. She's such a good kid, and it's obvious how much she takes everything to heart, so how could he let her down like that…?"

"You're askin' the wrong person, sir," replied Wade, thinking of his own dad.

"Yes… Yes… I suppose I am…," Harley said, looking at him kindly.

Then they heard Zoe's footsteps on the stairs so they switched back to discussing how good Shula's pie was.

Wade thanked Harley again and grabbed his bag. Zoe was waiting for him in the front hall and when they walked out onto the porch she shyly gave him a laminated poster and said, "This is a kind of cheat sheet I made up at that study retreat I told you about. I usually keep it handy for when I'm stuck for ideas for how to apply the whole visual/kinetic thing…"

"Don't you need it then?"

"I have a draft if I get stuck."

"Okay then - thanks. The nerd in me not be that far below the surface after all, because I'm kinda looking forward to puttin' these into practice." They both laughed at the thought of there being any nerd in Wade Kinsella, and he went to walk down the steps to his truck, but then he turned around and looked into those beautiful brown eyes. He said softly, "I'm real sorry your dad didn't call. I know all about being let down by your dad, and it sucks."

For a second she looked as though she was going to put a brave face on it, and brush it off, but then she said quietly, "It does suck. Big time."

In that moment he just wanted to grab her in a big bear hug and try to make some of her hurt go away, but he didn't. Instead he reached out and grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight. She squeezed back, and somehow he felt like maybe he'd made a bit of a difference. He gave her a warm smile and said, "See you tomorrow!" as he bounded down the stairs before he did give in to temptation and give her that big bear hug she obviously needed.

_**Author's note: Please review! I'd love to hear what you think.**_


	7. Chapter 7

**_Author's note: Once again thanks for all the follows, etc. and especially for the reviews. Enjoy – and please do let me know what you think!_**

"Okay, and turn right. That's it. Good! – You remembered to use the indicator! Okay, now just keep goin' and you're gonna turn right again up here a little ways, just where you can see that sign that says…"

_"Highway?!_ The sign that says _highway_? No way Wade! _NO WAY_! I am not ready to drive on the highway!"

"You'll be fine. Besides you don't have much choice: you can go right onto the highway or left onto the highway!" he tried to suppress his grin, but he was feeling pretty pleased with himself for tricking her into this. "And, before you suggest it, you can't stop and turn around because there's too much traffic: it's not safe to do a u-turn!"

"I am going to _kill_ you Wade Kinsella! Some warning would have been nice!" she said through gritted teeth as she waited for a break in the traffic so that she could turn right onto the highway. He could tell she was scared, so he tried to put her at ease.

"Look Zoe, you're gonna be fine. I didn't warn you beforehand 'cause I knew you'd just get yourself all worked up over it, but I wouldn't have brought you here if I didn't think you were ready. Don't think on it too much. Just go with it. It's not that different from the roads you've been drivin' on…," he said as she turned onto the highway.

"Yeah right - except for the speed, and the multiple lanes, and the trucks, and the overtaking…," she said grumpily, but he could tell that she wasn't freaking out as much as she was pretending to. Now that she was actually on the highway and it was going fine she seemed to have realized that she had overreacted a bit. But of course there was no way that she would have admitted that!

As Harley had predicted, Zoe was not the easiest of students, but Wade was thoroughly enjoying teaching her to drive. She made him laugh when she went into crazy mode like this, claiming that she couldn't do something or that she wasn't ready; but what he really loved was when she got all determined. He just had to say something like, "You'll get the hang of it eventually", or "Don't worry if it takes you a while to figure it out", and she would get this fire in her eyes and her facial expression would change. He secretly thought of it as her "game face", and it said that she was going to prove him wrong – that she would get the hang of it (whatever "it" was) in record time and figure it out long before he expected her to. That face – and the attitude that went with it – were two of the many things about Zoe Hart that set her well and truly apart from most of the other girls Wade knew. There was no doubt that this was his favorite job ever. Plus, of course, she was just so damn cute. He couldn't help but sneak admiring glances at her in between all the driving instructions and he really hoped she hadn't noticed. So far she seemed to be oblivious, and he hoped it stayed that way. It would be really awkward if she figured out that how cute he thought she was.

So far Wade had managed to tone his usual ways down a bit and keep himself from flirting with her. He knew he mustn't do that – as much as he would have liked to. Zoe was different. She was Harley's daughter, and that fact alone put her off limits. But even apart from that she was somehow special, and as Harley had observed and mentioned to Wade, it was obvious how much she took everything to heart. That meant that she was not a potential target for Wade's affection or attention. Wade was as much of a ladies' man as any sixteen-year-old boy could be, which meant that he was not boyfriend material. And Zoe was most definitely the kind of girl who had boyfriends, not hook-ups.

They had driven down the highway for a while and she was feeling more confident and had been able to bring her speed up enough that they were no longer getting constantly overtaken. Wade saw signs for a roadhouse up ahead and decided to end the lesson while things were going well.

"Okay, now we're going to pull off the highway at that next exit up there and I am going to buy you a drink to celebrate your first time driving on a highway!"

She smiled, but it wasn't her normal 100 watt smile and he wondered what was wrong. He guessed she was just nervous about exiting the highway, so he did his best to talk her through the whole process and she pulled it off no problem. She was actually getting pretty good.

As they got out of the car and went to head into the roadhouse Zoe was fidgety and seemed uncomfortable.

"You alright there, Zoe?" he asked.

"Umm, yeah, I'm fine. It's just that umm… Well, I appreciate the offer and everything, but I don't really drink. I know you probably think that's really lame, but…"

He looked at her in confusion. What the hell was she talking about? And then it clicked: she thought he had been offering to buy her an _alcoholic_ drink! Where had she gotten that idea? He would get to the bottom of that later, but for now he decided that he would have some fun with her.

"Don't be silly. Of course you can have one drink! I'm not gonna take no for an answer! What you just did was a rite of passage and we are going to celebrate! Now you just sit yourself down in that booth over there and I will be over in a second with an Alabama delicacy! Go on now – scoot!"

He watched her out of the corner of his eye while the guy behind the bar prepared his order as she nervously sat down. She was fidgeting with the napkins on the table and she looked extremely uncomfortable. He would have to put her out of her misery soon.

He carried the drinks over to the table and sat down. She looked like she was poised to give a speech, or a lecture, so he made sure not to let her get a word in edgewise.

"Here you go: an Alabama Slammer! Cheers to your first highway adventure!"

He held up his glass and clinked it against hers, which she reluctantly raised to her lips. She took the tiniest of sips and then a bigger mouthful, and then she looked up at him saying, "This doesn't _taste_ like alcohol… It tastes like…" Then she saw the smirk on his face and the game was up.

"Orange juice?" he asked before he started laughing hysterically at her. "You looked like you were about to pee your pants!"

He could not stop laughing as he watched all the different emotions flicker across her face: confusion, realization, relief, amusement, anger, and finally embarrassment.

"Why do you always have to mess with me Wade?!" she was trying to act mad, but he could tell she was at least a little amused, and mainly embarrassed.

"'Cause it's so much fun, obviously," he grinned at her. "But I must say, I'm a bit disappointed that you have such a low opinion of me. What on god's earth would make you think that I was going to waltz into a roadhouse and buy you alcohol? Or that I would drink an Alabama Slammer and get behind the wheel and drive you home? I already told you that I have no interest in getting on the wrong side of Harley Wilkes! And I have no interest in getting arrested either!"

"Okay, okay, so I jumped to a few conclusions…"

"Jumped to a few conclusions, huh? Well let's see what other crazy ideas you have about me in that pretty little head… Come on – spill!"

Her face was bright red now and he decided to go a bit easy on her. There it was again, that weird thing that always seemed to happen with her. He would have a perfect opportunity to tease her good and proper but instead he would decide to save her the embarrassment. Still, he was curious: what kind of person did she think he was?

"Okay, I'll make you a deal," he said. "How about you ask me one question – any question – about some idea you have in your head about me, and I promise to answer it honestly? Then we can see if your opinion of me is even close to the truth…"

She nodded slowly, and it was obvious that she was trying to think of a really good question. But Wade didn't want her to ask a perfectly crafted question. He wanted to know what she _really_ wanted to ask_._

"Come on, Zoe," he pushed playfully. "You're running out of time. Tick tock, tick tock… If you don't get your question out by the time I count to ten then I get to ask you something! One… two… three… four… five… six… seven… eight…"

"How many girls have you slept with?" By the look of horror on her face, she had obviously cracked under the pressure of Wade's countdown and said something she had never planned to say, which was exactly what he had wanted - but he hadn't expected this!

He was taken aback but also amused. His eyebrows were raised as high as they could go and he looked at her, trying to get her to meet his eye.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry – I don't know where that came from!" she said the next second after she had asked the question. She was clearly very embarrassed. "Obviously you don't need to answer that! It's none of my business…"

"Nah," he said slowly. "I'll answer it. A deal's a deal…"

She looked mortified, and when she looked at him, it seemed as though she was begging him with her eyes to pretend she had never asked that question and to steer the conversation back onto safe ground. But something in him didn't want to go back to safe ground, even if he wouldn't let himself wonder why she had asked _that_, of all the questions she could have asked.

"Three."

"Three?"

"Three. What? You look disappointed…" Wade knew people thought he was a player and she had obviously expected a bigger number. And he _had_ been with plenty of girls, even though he had never really had a girlfriend. Contrary to popular belief though, Wade had not actually had sex with very many girls. He had discovered early on, and from listening to his buddies' stories, that girls took sex very seriously – or at least most of the girls he had the opportunity to sleep with did - and that things tended to get messy as soon as they went "all the way".

Since for Wade it was all about fun and enjoyment and pleasure, it wasn't worth all the angst that went with sex. Especially when, weirdly, it seemed that these same girls were happy to do just about everything else with him, without any of the unpleasantness that tended to ensue once he slept with them. For some reason, it seemed that as soon as sex came into the picture the girl would get clingy and want to make the guy her boyfriend – even if that guy had never indicated that he was looking for a girlfriend. She would suddenly be jealous every time he looked at another girl, and be pissed at him when he didn't call or didn't know her favorite color or the name of her dog. It was weird and it was confusing, and his way of dealing with it was to do everything_ but_ have actual sex, and that had seemed to be working okay so far.

"Not disappointed…," Zoe said. "Just surprised."

"You thought it would be more."

"I did."

"And why is that?" He knew he should stop making her feel so uncomfortable, but he wanted to hear her answer. He felt like it would give him some insight into what she thought of him.

"Well, it's just that… even just in the time since I started at school I've seen you with so many different girls. I mean you weren't just talking, you were…," she faded off without finishing her sentence.

"Kissing? Making out?"

She nodded.

"Well, yeah, I like girls. And I like kissing – I mean, who doesn't, right?" To his surprise she averted her eyes and blushed a deeper shade of red than he had ever seen, which was saying something because she blushed a lot. He was confused, and then all of a sudden he wasn't. He realized at that moment that she had obviously never kissed a guy. Woah… He had guessed that she would certainly still be a virgin, but it had never crossed his mind that she might never even have kissed a guy. She was almost 16! Didn't they have spin the bottle in New York?

He had to react, but how? He tried to keep the full extent of how surprised he was hidden, and to lighten the tone by teasing her gently.

"Hang on now, Manhattan… If my guess, based on that beautiful shade of red you just turned, is correct, are you telling me that you, the big city girl, is about to be sweet sixteen and never been kissed? My, my… Well, now that is something special!"

"Oh my god, I could die," she buried her head in her arms on the table. Her next sentence was muffled because she kept her head down, avoiding looking at him, "I am so lame…"

Wade was glad she wasn't looking at him at that moment, because if she had seen his face she would have realized for sure that he thought she was about the furthest thing possible from lame. Learning that she had never kissed anyone had done something to Wade's brain. He suddenly couldn't think straight, knowing that no one had ever kissed those amazing lips of hers. But he had to pull himself together before she looked up and saw his feelings written all over his face. He couldn't tell her most of what he was thinking, but he could tell her some.

"Zoe, that is like the furthest thing from lame. Lame is kissing some random guy at a party because you had half a wine cooler and he put his arm around you. It's actually very cool – you can be one of very few people whose first kiss actually means something!"

She jerked her face up and she exclaimed, "No, no – that's not what I want! Imagine if I saved my first kiss for someone special, and it didn't happen 'til I was like 25, and then I was a crap kisser and they dumped me on the spot in disgust!"

He couldn't help but laugh at her, but he did it kindly, "Zoe Hart, you have a special talent for thinking on things too much! It is not going to take you until you are 25 to find someone special. And even if you _were_ a crap kisser, no guy worth a dime would dump you over that. It's not like a god-given skill you know? It _is_ possible to improve!"

She looked at him pleadingly, and said, "Wade, can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure," he said, not daring to wonder what she was going to ask.

"Can we _please_ pretend we never had this conversation and that you don't know this about me? Please?"

"Of course," he laughed. "If that's what you want, then sure - we can do that." But of course they couldn't. It was all he could think of.

As she lay in bed that night, trying in vain to fall asleep, she reluctantly reflected on her day. If it had been possible to die of embarrassment, Zoe would have been long gone by now. How could she have asked him that! She had tried to think of a really good question, but she had panicked under the pressure and her mind had gone blank. The only questions that had popped into her head were either completely inane or _way _too personal. And then he had started counting down, and… Where had that question even come from? Did she really care about the answer?

Of course she did. Her brilliant plan to find Wade's fatal flaw and get over her crush on him had not worked so far at all, and, as predicted, the crush had gotten even more intense with all the time they had been spending together. And now he knew that she had never kissed a guy before. It was mortifying. And she now knew that he had had sex with three girls. The number was less than she had expected but still…it was ridiculous for a girl like her with _zero_ experience to be crushing on someone like Wade, who was so far ahead of her in that sense. _That_ should have been the thing that cured the crush, and in her head she knew that. But there was nothing she could do about it: the more she got to know him, the more she liked him. So far it seemed like he hadn't picked up on it, but it was surely only a matter of time…

There was no way she was going to fall asleep in this state so she went downstairs for a drink of water. As she walked through the hall she saw a piece of paper on the floor, just inside the front door. She went to pick it up and saw that it had her name written on it – in Wade's writing! Her heart started to pound as she realized he must have slipped it under the door sometime after she had gone to bed. Zoe quickly headed back up to her room to read the note. Before she sat down she looked out the window, just in case, but she couldn't see him. He must have already left.

_"Hi,_

_I didn't want to call because it is already so late, but I was just wondering if you wanted to go for a run with me tomorrow morning while everyone's in church? I figure if we run together, in the same direction, we can reduce the risk of another accident!_

_I'll swing by around 9:30 and see if you're up for it._

_'Night,_

_Wade"_

Oh god – she was _never _going to get to sleep now! She was so excited that she now had plans to spend some quality one-on-one time with him on a day when she had thought she wouldn't be seeing him at all. And she was also relieved because she figured that the note must mean that even after her weird question and her accidental revelation he didn't think she was a complete freak. Well, she hoped so anyway.


	8. Chapter 8

Wade was tossing and turning in his bed. He just couldn't stop thinking about what Zoe had told him: she had never kissed a guy before! And she desperately wanted to change that. It was driving him crazy. The way she had been talking he had gotten the impression she just wanted to hurry up and get her first kiss out of the way. She would probably let the first guy who came along kiss her, just so that she could get it over and done with. The thought made him feel sick.

He could easily imagine what would happen if she took that approach here in Bluebell. It was only a matter of time before someone had a party, and then any number of guys would be bound to try their luck with Zoe. Some of those guys would no doubt be Wade's buddies, and among them were some good guys, but not one of them was right for Zoe's first kiss. Besides, they wouldn't even realize that it _was_ her first kiss so they would have no clue that it should be special. What if Meatball, who was his buddy but who was also disgusting, tried to kiss her?! Or sly and creepy Jake Nass? – Wade had never liked Jake. He couldn't let that happen.

But there wasn't much that he could do to stop it. Unless… He tried to stop himself from even thinking it, but it crept into his mind anyway: Unless he did it himself… He wanted to! In fact, he didn't know if he had ever wanted anything this badly before. There had been times in the past when he had wanted things NOT to happen with this same level of intensity, but he couldn't remember ever wanting something TO happen in this way. The only problem was that the basic facts hadn't changed: she was still Harley's daughter, and he still wasn't boyfriend material, especially for someone like Zoe Hart.

Except that this wasn't about flirting or leading her on; this was about making sure that she had a nice first kiss – well, hopefully more than just nice. And since she had already decided to get the whole thing over with the first chance she got, he would just be saving her from having some random guy sticking his tongue down her throat. If it was that slimeball Jake Nass it probably wouldn't stop there either – Wade was sure that someone like Jake would try to cop a feel as well if he possibly could. The thought was unbearable to him, and that settled it for Wade. Even if she _was_ Harley's daughter and even if he _wasn't_ destined to be her boyfriend, he was sure that he could be a miles better first kiss for Zoe than anyone else in Bluebell.

Earlier, he had been too tormented to sleep; now he was too excited. He thought and thought and eventually came up with a plan. Then he wrote a note to Zoe, keeping it light and jokey so that she wouldn't have a clue what kind of thing he had in mind, and drove back to Harley's and slid it under the front door. He tried not to build the whole thing up too much in his mind. If it didn't happen tomorrow, well, then there would be other chances. But, really he was quite pleased with his plan and he hoped that it would work out like he wanted it to.

When Earl shuffled past Wade's room in the early hours of the morning, relatively sober because he'd been asleep for the past eight hours or so, he wondered what on earth his son could be dreaming about to have such a big grin on his face even while he was fast asleep.

Zoe was up at the crack of dawn. Despite having hardly slept at all, she was feeling wide awake and excited for the day to start. She was still embarrassed about what had happened the day before, but she was choosing to focus on the fact that Wade had invited her to go running with him, which must mean that he didn't think she was a complete weirdo.

Zoe didn't want to wake Harley so she started off by checking her email. Email was pretty much her only link to her former life these days, and when she had first arrived in Bluebell she had checked her inbox for new messages several times a day. These days she was checking less and less frequently, and she now realized that she hadn't even turned on the computer the day before.

She saw that there was a message from her dad. It was short and didn't say much – just like all the messages he had sent her since she moved to Bluebell. And once again there was no mention of her plan, which she had set out in great detail for him a few weeks after arriving in Bluebell. But even her dad couldn't ruin her good mood this morning.

Her mom had sent her an email with pictures of her and Rodriguez on holiday in Bermuda. She skipped over that one quickly. As with her dad, she refused to let it get to her today.

Once she had shut off the computer she figured it was not too early anymore to have a shower, and proceeded to spend way too long in the bathroom, plucking her eyebrows, shaving her legs, moisturizing, and dressing in her cutest exercise outfit, until she felt she looked as good as she possibly could considering that they were going running, not out to dinner, and therefore she couldn't exactly put on makeup.

When she skipped down the stairs and into the kitchen with a bright "Good morning!" Harley was sitting at the table with the newspaper and a coffee. He looked up and did a bit of a double take when he saw how perky she looked. Normally she was much more subdued, especially in the morning. But, ever the gentleman, he didn't comment on her uncharacteristic chirpiness.

"Going for a run?" he asked.

"Yep, Wade's coming over and we're going to run together. He reckons it's safer if we run in the same direction after last time!"

"Ah, yes, that makes sense," laughed Harley. If she hadn't been so distracted with her own thoughts she might have noticed the subtlest hint of a knowing smile on his face, suggesting that suddenly her good mood made a lot more sense as well.

"I meant to ask you… How was your driving lesson yesterday? Did you learn anything new?" he asked.

She had to turn away to hide her blush when she remembered just what she had learnt in yesterday's lesson, but she just said, "Yep. He made me drive on the highway!"

"And how was that?"

"Surprisingly, it wasn't too bad… I think I'm doing okay."

"I'm sure you are!"

Somewhere along the line, without realizing it, Harley and Zoe had slipped into a comfortable routine. She had to admit it was nice. She had never had this kind of easy relationship with her parents. Unlike with Harley, it did not just go without saying that they thought she was fabulous and smart and capable. In fact, they tended to constantly check up on her progress in her various endeavors and give her advice on one thing or another every single time she sat down with them. Now she was finding that it was pretty great to have someone who was always on your side, and who made it clear they thought you were doing a really good job of everything without their help.

Harley headed off to church and she was left alone to wait for Wade. She decided to go out on the front porch and start stretching. She didn't want to embarrass herself by injuring herself or getting leg cramps or something. It would be nice to come out the other side of today without feeling silly – unlike yesterday. She took her stretching seriously, like she did most things, but today she was distracted, jumping every time she heard a car approaching. Since she was expecting him to pull up in his ancient, and rather noisy, truck, she was taken completely by surprise when she heard his voice and saw him coming through the front gate.

"I take it you got my note then?" he asked with a big smile.

"I did!" she answered, relieved to see that he was wearing a shirt today. At least that should make it a _little_ easier to hide her attraction to him. "No car today?"

"Nah, I decided to run over instead."

"Show off!"

"Not really – just burning off some extra energy! Anyway, who are _you_ to be callin' _me_ a show off? Look at you in your fancy little joggin' outfit!" She blushed and looked down at her head-to-toe Adidas ensemble: aqua and navy running singlet, navy three-quarter length running pants, bright pink running shoes and a navy baseball cap with a pink Adidas symbol on the front. Maybe it _was_ a bit too put-together for Bluebell…

"Just teasin'! You look great! Ready to go?"

"Yep – where are we off to?"

"It's a surprise! The faster you run, the faster you'll find out," he grinned and headed out onto the road.

"Okay – lead the way."

They jogged through the outskirts of town, bypassing the town center and heading in the opposite direction from where they had crossed paths on their previous run. As expected, they hardly saw a soul, because almost everyone in Bluebell was in church every Sunday morning.

Next thing Zoe knew, they were headed out of town on a gravel back road, and she wondered where on earth Wade was taking her. She didn't want to give Wade the satisfaction of knowing how curious she was though, so she made sure to wonder silently. It was pretty around here, but a bit wild for her taste. It seemed like people didn't come down here very often and she was glad Wade was with her – otherwise she probably would have turned around.

She was close on Wade's heels as he followed the road around a bend, and suddenly she saw a pair of huge wrought iron gates, padlocked shut and displaying a big sign saying "Private Property! Keep Out!". She didn't stop, but she slowed down and looked through the gates to see an overgrown driveway lined with ancient looking trees and caught a glimpse of a white building in the distance.

"What is that place?" she asked Wade.

"It's the old plantation. Been on the market for years now, but no one has enough money to buy it _and_ fix it up! I think they're waiting for a movie star or some super successful athlete to snap it up one day. It's pretty amazin'."

"You've been inside?"

"Not inside the house, just the grounds. You'll see in a minute," he said, as he slowed to a walk and headed to a spot on the huge chain link fence about 200 feet away from the gates they had passed. He bent down to the ground and fiddled with some wire, and next thing she knew he was rolling back a section of the fence just big enough that a decent sized man could fit through. He gestured for her to go through the gap into the property.

She hesitated, and he was quick to put her mind at ease. "Relax," he said. "The fence and the sign and the padlock and everythin' are s'posed to be intimidatin'! But the truth is, until a couple o' years back, all us kids used to come up here all the time. Then a few of the guys who weren't so bright started to get a bit rowdy, lettin' off fireworks and smokin' pot and that, and spoiled it for everyone. When one set of fireworks nearly started a fire, the sheriff had to crack down and make the owners put up the fence and the sign and lock the front gate. But I come here all the time. I've even seen the sheriff a couple of times when I've been out here. He doesn't mind. It's just the idiots they want to keep out."

Zoe wasn't big on breaking rules, but his explanation was pretty convincing. Plus, she remembered what he had said about about getting on the wrong side of Harley and she figured he wouldn't have brought her here if he thought there was a chance it would get him in trouble with the apparently formidable Dr. Wilkes.

She stepped through the hole in the fence and Wade followed, securing the loose chain link again so that no one would even know the secret entrance was there. He led the way across a huge, overgrown lawn and up the driveway, towards the white building. When they got closer Zoe could see that it was a huge old house, still majestic even though it was in obvious need of repair. But when they were almost at the house Wade followed a path off to the right and she saw two more buildings, each much smaller and much more modest than the big white plantation house. They were separated by a pretty little pond.

"This building here is the old gatehouse and that one over there is the old carriage house," he explained, walking towards the one he'd said was the gatehouse. It was then that she saw there was a cooler box on the deck that ran along one side of the gatehouse, extending out a little way over the pond.

"Wade!" she whispered, tapping him on the shoulder and pointing at the cooler box. "I think someone else is here." And Wade saw another opportunity to have some fun.

"Oh wow, I think you might be right…," he whispered back. "I hope it's not those crazy guys with the fireworks!"

She looked worried, but he couldn't resist taking the joke a bit further. "I tell you what," he whispered, "you wait here and I'll just sneak over and see if they've got anything any good in that there cooler box…"

Her eyes widened and she looked at him like he was crazy. "No!" she whispered urgently, as he slowly made his way over to the cooler box, making a show of looking around for its owners. "Wade! Just leave it! Wade! They could come back any second!"

He had reached the cooler box now and he slowly took the lid off and pulled out a bag of corn chips and a bottle of coke, "Score!" he whispered, grinning at her. He put them on the ground next to the cooler box and then pulled out two towels and laid them out on the deck. This was followed by him producing two cups and a plastic container that had fried chicken in it. All the while he was sneaking little peeks at Zoe, to see how she was reacting. At first she looked shocked and even a bit terrified, but when he spread out the towels she finally started to realize what was happening. As he put the cups and the chicken down, he could have sworn he heard a growl, followed by the sound of angry footsteps coming his way. He looked up to see Zoe approaching fast with a murderous look on her gorgeous little face. He hadn't planned this part but he wasn't one to pass up a golden opportunity. She reached him and was standing less than a foot away, gesturing like a crazy person at him and the cooler box, yelling, "This is _your _damn cooler box isn't it?! Why do you always have to mess with me Wade Kinsella?!"

"Oh, you ain't seen _nothing_ yet!" he grinned as he bent down, grabbed her round the waist and slung her over his shoulder. He heard her yelling, "Put me down, you Neanderthal!" as he carried her back off the deck and around to the sandy edge of the pond, somehow managing to remove her shoes along the way, even as she battered his back with her tiny fists and kicked her legs. When they got to the beach he threw her right into the middle of the pond where he knew the water would be deep, and cold! He kicked off his shoes and dived in straight after her. When he surfaced she was gasping for air, shocked by the cold, but she was laughing in between gasps, and then he heard her say, "Wade Kinsella, I am going to figure out a way to make you pay for this!" He just grinned back at her. Looking at her now, treading water in the middle of the pond and laughing, with all her defenses down, he decided that this was the moment. Before he could miss it, he swam up to her, cupped her face with one hand and put the other hand around her waist, pulling her in closer to him. He looked right into her eyes for a split second before he touched his lips tenderly to hers. He started off gently, testing the waters and seeing if she was going to freak out on him. But the second that she grabbed the back of his neck with one of her hands and started to kiss him back he let himself fall into the kiss, and then when he felt her other arm wrap around his torso, he dropped his guard completely and put everything he had into the most electric kiss he had ever experienced.

When they finally pulled their lips apart her legs had somehow become wrapped around his waist and they were holding each other so tightly that they could hardly breathe. Neither of them could stop smiling, and Wade said, "Well, I know I'm supposed to pretend that we never had that conversation yesterday, but I just want to reassure you that no one is _ever_ going to dump you because you are a lousy kisser! In fact, I think I may have been wrong – in your case kissing _does_ seem to be a god-given talent!" She grinned back at him and then shyly moved in to kiss him again and Wade had never felt so lucky in all his life.

**_Author's note: What do you think? I hadn't originally planned that their first kiss would be this full-on, but the story kind of got away on me and I couldn't find a way to tone it down. In the end I figured that it didn't really make sense to water down Zoe and Wade anyway, with all the undeniable chemistry between them!_**


	9. Chapter 9

**_Author's note: Thank you to everyone reading along. It's really encouraging to read all the reviews and see people following and favoriting. I'm glad to see that you liked their first kiss. Hopefully you'll like what comes next as well!_**

Her heart was beating about a million miles a minute when Wade swam over to her and cupped her face in his hand. She didn't dare to hope that he was going to kiss her. Surely he was going to dunk her or something. But then she felt his hand gripping her waist and pulling her closer to him and when his eyes met hers there was no doubt that dunking her was not what he had in mind. She must have closed her eyes, because all she remembered of what happened next was how soft and gentle his lips felt on hers. Her body responded on its own, as if it didn't need her brain to tell it what to do. She reached her arm up and grabbed the back of his neck, kissing him back urgently, and he responded by deepening the kiss. She could have sworn that colors were exploding behind her eyelids. Was that what people meant when they talked about fireworks? Zoe wanted to be closer to him and she didn't want how she was feeling to ever stop. Her legs wrapped around his waist and her other arm wrapped around his back. She was gripping him so tightly and he felt strong and solid and safe. At some point Zoe realized that Wade was holding onto her just as tightly. The hand that had cupped her face was now cradling the back of her head, as his other hand moved up and down her back.

She couldn't tell you how long they kissed like that, until they eventually pulled their lips apart, never loosening their grip on one another. The smile on her face was completely beyond her control, and Wade's expression seemed similarly dazed.

He broke the silence between them, saying, "Well, I know I'm supposed to pretend that we never had that conversation yesterday, but I just want to reassure you that no one is _ever_ going to dump you because you are a lousy kisser! In fact, I think I may have been wrong – in your case kissing _does_ seem to be a god-given talent!"

She grinned back at him and then shyly moved in to kiss him again.

XXXX

In the end they had to get out of the water. Wade noticed that she had goosebumps and they reluctantly let each other go so that they could get back to the deck and dry out. The pond was covered in shade, which is why the water was so cold, but luckily most of the deck was in full sun. When they got back to where the cooler box was, Wade wrapped one of the towels around her and rubbed her arms through the material, trying to help warm her up.

"Was this part of your plan?" she asked.

"What?"

"Well, you brought towels… Did you _plan_ to throw me in the pond?"

"No!" he laughed. "_That_ part I didn't plan!"

"But you brought towels. So you must have thought we would get wet! What was the original plan?"

He kissed her cheekily on the nose. "Curiosity killed the cat, you know… Can't you just leave it a mystery?"

"Nope! - I have questions!" she replied insistently.

"Of course you do!" he laughed. "Well I'm gonna need some sustenance before I answer all your questions!" He smiled as he grabbed the food he had gotten out of the cooler box earlier, back before they had gotten distracted. Once they were settled, sitting on their towels on the deck, with the food spread out in front of them, he finally said, "Okay, shoot!"

Zoe was suddenly feeling a bit shy, even though she knew that was ridiculous given what they had been doing only a few minutes ago. She forced herself to ask him though.

"How _much_ of this was planned?" she asked. All the time that they had been kissing, wrapped in each other's arms, she had felt so secure. There had been no doubt in her mind that his feelings were just as intense as hers. But now that they were no longer entwined, she suddenly felt nervous, remembering all those other girls she had seen him kissing at school, and the way he had said so casually yesterday at the roadhouse how much he liked girls and kissing. Maybe what was a fairy tale scenario to her was just one of many moves Wade had up his sleeve, and not something that was special and just between the two of them. Zoe couldn't let herself contemplate that idea for too long, or she thought she might cry. Still, she had to know.

"Well, let's see…," he answered, "I planned to bring you up here to the plantation, and I brought the food 'cause I thought we'd be hungry, and to give us something to do when we got here."

"And the towels?"

"What is it with you and the damn towels?!" he chuckled. "I brought the towels because I thought we might go for a swim in the pond."

"And the kissing? Was that planned?"

"Well… I'm gonna have to say yes… and no."

"What the hell does that mean?!" She was so confused.

"Well, yes, I planned to kiss you. That _was_ kind of the whole point of bringing you out here!" She raised her eyebrows. So it _had_ all been a big scheme to seduce her…

"But," he continued, "I gotta tell you, I was not expectin' _that_!"

"_That_?"

"Yeah – _that_! That there full-on Hollywood moment we just had!"

She just stared at him. He thought it was a Hollywood moment? So it_ had_ been special for him too.

He must have taken her silence for confusion, and he carried on, obviously trying to explain better.

"I mean I thought, well, that maybe I could give you a nice first kiss. You know, so that it wouldn't be like most first kisses. Let's face it: best case scenario it's gonna be awkward, worst case it's gonna be having some drunk loser at a party stick his tongue down your throat! But _that_…well that was friggin' out of this world! And I have had actual _dreams _about kissing you, but none of them even came close to this!"

"You've had dreams about kissing me…?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Of course I have Zoe! Damn it girl! – Can't you tell by now that I am nuts about you?!" He was looking at her like she was crazy. "The question is, have _you_ been dreaming about kissing _me_? Or have I just gone and made a complete fool of myself? I mean until a couple of minutes ago I was feelin' pretty confident, but the way you're lookin' at me now I'm startin' to get worried…"

"Wade, I have some more questions for you."

"What's with all the questions Zoe? I just told you that I'm crazy about you. Now I wanna know whether or not you like me back!" He sounded frustrated.

"Hear me out, okay?" she said, grabbing on to his hand. He nodded, gripping her hand in his and looking at her with a strange expression on his face – somewhere between confusion and desperation.

"Have you noticed how I blush all the time when I'm with you?"

"Well, yeah… But you're shy, and easily embarrassed… That doesn't mean anything."

She just looked at him skeptically.

"And do you remember the question I asked you yesterday?" Zoe went on.

"How could I forget?!" he laughed.

"And have you seen me watching you at school?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

"No buts Wade. I've been trying hard to hide it because I was sure you would think I was ridiculous, but I have had the biggest crush on you for ages…" Zoe was embarrassed saying that out loud, but he had put himself out there by telling her how he felt, and she felt she owed it to him to do the same. She looked up at him shyly and saw that he had a huge grin on his face.

"Well, thank the lord for that! You had me worried there for a minute! Thought I must've read the situation all wrong…"

He leaned over and tilted her chin up so that she was looking straight into his eyes.

"So… now that we've cleared that up…," he said, with a glint in his eye, "how about we get back to creating more Hollywood moments?" And with that he kissed her again and she couldn't remember why she had ever had any doubts about how he felt.

Wade wasn't sure what had happened. His simple plan to give Zoe a special first kiss and save her from the clutches of Meatball or Jake Nass had somehow ended with him practically declaring his love for her. He had never been in this situation before. He had certainly never felt like this about a girl. But even still, it was as if Zoe Hart had cast some kind of spell on him. Not only had he discovered that he was he crazy about her, but he had just laid it all out there, telling her exactly how he felt, with no promise that she felt the same way. Thank god she did. Otherwise he probably would have cried or something – that was how far removed he felt from his normal self!

He was_ trying_ to take it slow. She had just had her first kiss less than an hour ago, after all. But he was struggling. The effect she had on him was insane, and _she _wasn't holding back at all. It seemed laughable to him now that he had thought that he would be able to just give her a nice first kiss and that then they would go on as they had before. They were lying on the deck now, side by side, with their arms wrapped around one another. It was just kissing, but when she caught her fingers in his hair and slipped her tongue into his mouth, he gave an involuntary groan of pleasure. He had to do something to slow things down.

He kept his arms around her but pulled his mouth away from hers and said, "Hey, I just realized something…"

"Oh yeah? What's that?" she smiled back at him.

"I let you off too lightly before! You told me you'd had a crush on me for ages and I didn't even ask you about it."

"That's fine. Let's just leave it, okay?" she said, obviously uncomfortable.

"Ooh no! You are not getting off the hook that easily! I wanna know more. What did you mean by _crush_? And since when have you had this _crush_? And why on earth did you think that I'd think it was ridiculous?" he asked, sitting up.

"You're joking, right?" She sat up too and he was glad to see that his plan to slow things down had worked. Besides, he really did want to ask her about this.

"No – I'm completely serious. Why would I think it was ridiculous?"

"Wade! You're like this super confident, extremely attractive, charismatic guy. You're always the center of attention, it seems like you are friends with everyone in the whole entire school, and it's pretty obvious that there's no shortage of cute girls chasing after you!" He had to laugh at her assessment. It was nice to painted in such a flattering light. "And then there's me," she continued. "Boring old bookish Zoe Hart – always studying, socially inept, cold and unfriendly… never even kissed a guy before…"

"Well we took care of that, didn't we?" he grinned.

"We did!" She couldn't help but laugh.

"Zoe, I don't know what you've done to me to make me come out with all this stuff, but you gotta know, I never in a million years dreamed that you had a thing for me! I mean why would you go for me? You're like a gazillion times smarter than me, for starters!"

"Yeah, I'm not so sure about that…"

"Plus you're like this sophisticated city girl: fancy schools, good upbringing, travelled the world, probably gonna grow up to be a doctor or something equally as awesome… And I'm a small town hick. Never been further north than Atlanta, let alone overseas, pretty much raised myself since I was ten, no prospects, no nothing. What's a guy like me got to offer a girl like you?"

"Well… you're a really good kisser," she smiled at him cheekily.

"This is true," he joked back.

"And you have knack for rescuing me."

"You do seem to need rescuing on a surprisingly regular basis!" he was grinning now.

"And you're a pretty good driving instructor…!

"Pretty good?!" he exclaimed indignantly. "I am awesome! Who got you doing three-point turns like a pro in one lesson?"

She smiled. "Wade you're not like anyone else I've ever known and I have so much fun when I'm with you. This goes completely against my character, but I'm gonna have to say, let's not over analyze this. Let's just see where it goes."

"Sounds good to me!" He kissed her again. "But for now, it's gotta get you home!"

"What? Why?"

"Because it's 12:30, and if I don't get you home from your morning run soon Harley is going to send out a search party. And I need to keep him on my good side if I want him to let me take you out."

"Take me out?"

"Yeah, well, I know we kind of jumped the gun by kissing first, but I think we should plan our first date, don't you?"

"I've never been on a date…"

"Me neither!" he exclaimed.

"What? How is that possible?" Oh no, he suddenly realized how bad that would sound to her. He had just told her yesterday that he had slept with three girls, and now he had told her he'd never been on a date. In her world that wouldn't make sense at all.

"I mean, not a proper one," he backtracked fast. "Just, you know, group dates, parties, hanging out… But _we _should have a special one."

"Like what?"

"I dunno… But let's think and move at the same time. I'm startin' to get worried about pissin' Harley off."

"How are we going to run back with the cooler box?"

"Oh no – we don't have to run back. I forgot to tell you – I drove over this morning to leave the cooler box and left the truck parked down the road."

"Oh, thank god for that. I wasn't really up for running all the way home." She didn't even notice that she'd said it: "home."

XXXX

Less than half an hour later they pulled up in front of Harley's house. Wade insisted on jumping out first to open her door, and then he took her hand as they walked up the front path. He was nervous, but this was important. He owed it to Harley to do things right, after everything that Harley had done for him and Earl.

"There you are!" Harley said, as he came out onto the front porch. "I was just about ready to send out a search party."

"Told you," Wade said quietly to Zoe. And then Harley saw that they were holding hands.

"Well, well, what's this all about?" he said, gesturing to their interlocked fingers. "Must have been quite some run!"

"It was, sir. Umm, could I have a quick word with you Dr. Wilkes?" Wade asked, hoping that they couldn't tell how nervous he was.

"Yes, of course," Harley replied, looking a bit taken aback. "Let's go out on the back porch shall we."

Zoe was looking at him all confused, but she would have to wait for him to try to explain later. It would probably seem crazy to her, but he felt like he had to run this by Harley before it went any further. He guessed it had something to do with being Southern, and a lot to do with the gratitude and respect he had for Harley, and maybe even more to do with how important it was to him that Harley didn't disapprove of him being with Zoe. He knew that Zoe was the most precious thing in the world to Harley. And although he tried to stay out of the gossip the doctor would have some idea of Wade's reputation as a player. If he didn't, then no doubt the one of the fine citizens of Bluebell would waste no time filling him in. So Wade had to start this off on the right foot. But damn it was awkward.

He was too nervous to look at Harley while he said what he had to say, so he stood on the back porch, hands resting on the railing, as he looked out over the back yard.

"Um, I've never done this before, so I hope you'll forgive me if I get it wrong, but… I'd like to ask your permission to date Zoe, sir." There – he'd said it. He felt better now that he had gotten it out. But why wasn't Harley saying anything back? He looked over hesitantly and saw that Harley had sunk into one of the chairs and he was rubbing his face in his hands. Oh god - he was going to say no.

"Sir, I know that I may not be ideal boyfriend material," he rushed on, trying to change Harley's mind before he could say no. "But I promise to treat her with respect. And I won't lead her astray or anythin' – honest. I'll go along with any rules you have – curfews, whatever… I just, I really like her, and for some crazy reason she likes me, and I'd like to take her out… with your blessing."

"It's okay Wade," Harley said, looking up. "It's not Zoe dating _you _that I'm worried about; it's Zoe dating, period. I guess most fathers have 16 years to prepare for this moment, but I've only had a couple of months… Of course, you can take Zoe out Wade. And I do trust you to treat her with respect. But, yes, there will be rules – let me get back to you on those…"

"Thank you, sir. Thank you," Wade said, his relief was overwhelming. "Can I go tell her?"

"Yes, of course…"

"No need," Zoe said as she stepped through the doorway from the kitchen. "I heard the whole thing."

Wade couldn't believe her. Harley and Wade just stared at her.

"What?" she said indignantly. "I'm sorry for eavesdropping, okay? But I'm a New Yorker! – it's weird for me to have my dad and my… well the guy who wants to date me discussing permission and stuff! Did you think I was just gonna sit in the living room and _knit_ or something until you came and told me my fate?!"

Harley and Wade couldn't help but laugh at the image of Zoe knitting. "Are you sure you know what you're getting yourself in for, Wade?" he laughed.

"I'm not sure I do, sir, no! I'm a bit worried now, to be honest…," he grinned.

"Hey!" Zoe glared at them. "I'm right here! Could you two please stop talking about me like I'm not even here?"

"Okay, okay! No need to get all worked up! Let's go and work out what we're gonna do on this date then, shall we?"

"Oh – you're gonna let me take part in that decision are you? Well I suppose I should feel privileged!"

Wade was relieved to see Harley smiling as he took Zoe's hand and led her back into the house. He hoped Harley really was okay with everything, but even more than that he hoped that Harley had noticed Zoe had referring to him as her "dad" in her little speech.

**_Author's note: Thanks for reading. Please keep reviewing! I love reading what you think, and the more reviews I get the more motivated I'll be to get the next chapter up!_**


	10. Chapter 10

**_Author's note: Thank you again for all the reviews and favorites and follows. It means a lot to me. I especially love hearing about the specific things you liked, so if there is something in particular you like in this chapter please take the time to let me know - it might just encourage me try and incorporate more stuff like it in future chapters!_**

Wade and Zoe stood on the front porch, facing one another with both of their hands linked and their fingers interlaced. Zoe looked up at him shyly, but, as always, her big brown eyes made it completely obvious how she was feeling. Talk about wearing your heart on your sleeve.

She said softly, "Thank you for today."

"Thank _you_ for today," he whispered back, still finding it hard to believe that she was looking at _him_ like that. He leaned the tiniest bit forward, preparing to kiss her, but was interrupted by Harley's voice calling out from the kitchen, where he was loading the dishwasher with the dinner dishes.

"Good_bye_ Wade!"

Wade gave a small smile, despite his disappointment. He couldn't blame Harley for playing the protective daddy. Zoe mainly looked embarrassed at the realization that Harley was on to them, but he got the impression she was disappointed too.

"Goodbye Harley!" he called out. "Goodnight Zoe," he said more quietly. He squeezed her hands and quickly brushed his lips against the top of her head, before reluctantly turning to head down the front steps.

As he drove away Wade could not help feeling that there must have been some kind of mix up. How the hell was his life suddenly going so right? Things like this did not happen to the Wade Kinsellas of the world.

He didn't want to spoil the magic by going home to a drunken Earl, so instead he kept driving. He drove all the way to the coast, where he parked the truck so that it was looking out over the water. He got out and sat on the hood, enjoying the breeze and the view while he thought back over his day. To say that it had turned out better than he had expected was an understatement.

He had been excited about his plan to give Zoe her first kiss, but he really hadn't given much thought to what would follow after that. In the past, as far as Wade was concerned, kissing had always been something that was just plain good fun. He enjoyed getting physical with girls but it had never held any great meaning for him. Sometimes, Wade would get hung up on a girl, but it had always been a thrill of the chase kind of thing. As soon as he got the girl, his fascination would be over. So, of course, he had assumed that the same would be true with Zoe. Sure, he had been thinking about her a lot, and he was very attracted to her. But he had still thought that he could kiss her and it would be nothing more than a nice bit of fun that would also help cure him of his recent preoccupation with her. He had never dreamed that Zoe had had a "crush," as she had called it, on him. And he had never expected that by the end of the day he would have the closest thing he'd ever had to a girlfriend. In fact, if he had his way it wouldn't be long before that's what she would be. After all, they had basically established that they were both crazy about one another. And he had talked to Harley and gotten permission to date her, which had of course been excruciating at the time, but was well worth it. Once Harley had given his permission, Zoe and Wade had sat on the swing on the front porch for hours, holding hands and talking, and planning their first date. Of course Wade would have liked to do a lot more than just hold hands, but Harley was there, pottering around the house and garden. In fact, especially after that last "Goodbye Wade," Wade was sure that he had been keeping an eye on them.

Wade had had dinner with them on the back porch again and Harley had mentioned that a few people had expressed an interest in Wade's talents as a driving instructor. Apparently he could expect Babs Foster to come talk to him about giving her niece from Filmore driving lessons. It was new for him to have adults trusting him, taking it as a given that he would be responsible, and expecting that he would live up to their expectations, but it had been happening more and more over the last few weeks. He was surprised by it, but maybe it was that people had noticed how Harley trusted him with Zoe. Or maybe it was that he was doing a bit better in school since he had stopped skipping classes. He thought that some of those new study techniques that Zoe had introduced him to were helping as well. All in all life was good. His dad was still a drunk of course – that would never change – but their money situation was better (and would continue to be better if other people wanted him to give driving lessons as well), he was doing better in school, and, best of all, Zoe Hart liked him. More than liked him – she had given him the best kisses of his life and agreed to go out on a date with him!

There was a nagging feeling that it was all too good to be true. He didn't deserve all this. But it was not in his nature to over think things. If it came crashing down around him he would deal with it then. For now he was going to enjoy every second.

XXXX

Zoe wished that she could turn her brain off. Or actually she wished that she could turn parts of her brain off. If she could choose, at that moment, she would turn off all the parts of her brain except the one that would allow her to replay her day. It had been pretty much perfect. In fact she couldn't think of a single thing she would change. Well, maybe she would have changed Wade's goodnight kiss. It would have been nice to have another one of those amazing embraces that made her stomach do flip flops and left her feeling cherished… among other things. But at the same time, Harley running interference had been kind of cute. And, in truth, even Wade's quick kiss to the top of her head had given her goose bumps. She was a bit scared by the effect he had on her – by how hard and fast she was falling for him. And that brought her to the parts of her brain that she wished she could turn off.

Establishing with him that she wasn't just some casual kiss had done a lot to calm her fears. And hearing what Wade had said to Harley had done even more to put her mind at rest, even if she did think him asking for Harley's permission to date her was weird. But the fact remained that Wade had had a whole lot of experience with girls, and the only experience she had with boys was what she had done with him that day. She knew he cared about her, but surely that just meant that he was going to want to have sex with her even more than he otherwise would have. And she had only just had her first kiss. She wasn't ready to have sex. How long would it take before she was ready? How long would he wait? How would she manage to slow down the pace?

In fact, that was another big issue, because the thing was, when he kissed her Zoe's self-control went out the window. It was like some other version of her came out from within and took over from shy, awkward Zoe. When she thought back to the way she had wrapped her legs around his waist in the pond, and the way she had grabbed the back of his head and pulled him deeper into their kisses with obvious passion she felt embarrassed. But of course he hadn't seemed to mind. Quite the opposite actually. But what if that meant that he thought she was ready to go to the next step, and the steps after that?

She was getting herself worked up so she decided to check her email for a distraction. As she waited for her email inbox to appear on the screen she closed her eyes and remembered how amazing it had felt to be held by Wade. She couldn't wait until they had some time alone so that they could do it all over again. She wondered when that might be. Maybe the next day after school…

She opened her eyes and saw that there was a new email from her mom. Talk about a buzz kill. If there was another photo of her mother and Rodriguez in his speedos in Bermuda she resolved to delete the email immediately. There was only so much she could endure.

But the email wasn't about Bermuda, or Rodriguez… Crap. It was bad.

_Dear Zoe,_

_Your father brought me up to speed on your "plan". I am glad to hear that you are ready to come back to New York, although I must say it would have been nice to hear about it from you directly, rather than via your father. To tell the truth I'm surprised that you've managed to last as long as you have in Hicksville! Of course, as I'm sure you must realize, a lot of the details of your plan are not practical, but we can discuss the details when you get home. Let me know when you want your ticket booked for and I'll make the arrangements._

_Ciao_

Zoe's mouth had dropped open in shock. She could not believe what she was reading. How could her father have betrayed her like that? And how could her mother be so clueless? Zoe had a pretty good idea of which aspects of her plan her mother thought were impractical and Zoe had never had any intention of going back to New York without those, even before things had started to look up for her in Bluebell. In other words, even before Wade.

She opened up the email she had sent to her father outlining her plan, and read over it. It set out in great detail her plan for how she could move back to New York for the start of the next term while avoiding living with her mom and Rodriguez. She had told him about how she had researched the options and found the perfect school: The New Connecticut School for Girls. It was a prestigious boarding school about an hour and a half from Manhattan by train, and they had an elite academic program for future doctors. She knew that living with her dad fulltime was not an option, with his busy schedule and high-pressure career. But if she could get accepted to this school she could board at the school during the week and spend weekends with her dad, all while getting the best possible preparation for a career in medicine.

The email was extremely detailed. It set out all the deadlines she needed to get the applications in by, the date her father would have to lease an apartment by. She had even included a list of potential candidates to write references for her school application, as well as a list of study retreats and camps that she could attend during the school holidays so that she wouldn't be in her father's way.

Looking over the plan her feelings were all mixed up between disappointment, betrayal, sadness, and anger. Reading over the email she realized that he could not have missed the fact that there was no way she wanted to live with her mother and Rodriguez. She had thought that, of all people, her father would understand that. And yet he had basically ignored her plan until now, when he had gone behind her back and told her mother.

Her mother was like a human bulldozer. She had obviously heard about Zoe's email and chosen to take on board only the parts she liked – basically just that Zoe wanted to move back to New York. Zoe's mom had no doubt ignored the very obvious fact that she was not mentioned anywhere in Zoe's plan, and that Zoe clearly did not want to live with her mother and Rodriguez, or even stay with them on weekends or holidays. Her mother's dismissal of her carefully thought out plan ("_as I'm sure you must realize, a lot of the details of your plan are not practical_") made it painfully obvious that she had completely disregarded it, as did the fact that she seemed to be suggesting that Zoe come back to New York straight away, even though Zoe's plan had been carefully thought out so that she would move back just in time to start the new term at the New Connecticut School for Girls.

She had to admit that the plan she had so carefully laid out just after she had arrived in Bluebell did not have quite the same appeal now that she had gotten used to life in Bluebell. Now that she was getting along nicely with Harley, and now that there was Wade.

But that was not the point. The more she thought about it the angrier she got. On some level she must have started to get used to the way that Harley respected her, and _listened_ to her. Her parents were used to telling her what to do, expecting her to go along with what _they_ thought was best. But in the short time since she had been living with Harley – a time when both of her parents had virtually ignored her except for brief emails now and then - she had experienced something different. Harley essentially took the opposite approach from her parents. In a strange way he was more involved in her day-to-day life than they had ever been, while at the same time letting her make most of her own decisions. They ate breakfast and dinner together every day, and when he asked about her day he was interested in what she had to say. He never told her what to do, but somewhere along the line she had started taking his opinion into account more and more, because she knew he was paying attention. For example, if she wanted to make a snarky remark about the Belles or the gossiping ladies in town square she found herself biting her tongue, knowing that he would be disappointed to hear her being unkind.

She was going to have to talk to him about this before her mother did. The thing was, she knew that it would hurt him when he found out that she had a detailed plan to get out of Bluebell and go back to New York to live with her dad – her dad that wasn't Harley. And he would ask her if that was still what she wanted – but she didn't know anymore. She still wanted to be a doctor, and the New Connecticut School for Girls would help with that. But right now she was so angry at her father (the one that wasn't Harley) that the idea of living with him was not so appealing. And there was still no way she was going to live with her mom, even if Rodriguez miraculously disappeared. And there was Wade to think about now too. And Harley… She needed time.

It took more effort than it should have, but she sent her mother a reply that would stall her. She told her to wait a week for Zoe to get back to her about the schedule because she had exams and an important assignment, which meant a busy week ahead of her. She knew her mom would accept that as a reason.

So now she had a week to sort out how to deal with all this. The idea was overwhelming. She turned the light out and got into bed, making an effort to block all thoughts from her mind except those that would give her nice dreams. She started by remembering her surprise at finding the note from Wade in the hall the night before and determined to work through all her time with Wade from then until he had left tonight. It was actually quite an effective way of distracting her from all the unpleasant stuff she had to think about and she fell asleep happily remembering how it had felt to be wrapped in Wade's arms kissing him in the sun on the deck.

**_Author's note: What did you think? Let me know what you liked and didn't like._**

**_As some of you seem to have picked up already I am trying to stay away from some of the things that are annoying in the show, like communication breakdowns that go on for too long and of course the Zoe/George thing. You can be assured Zoe will not develop a crush on George in my story! I am also trying to make it a reasonably realistic teenage love story, and I figure that teenagers have enough drama to keep things interesting without throwing love triangles, etc. into the mix._**


	11. Chapter 11

**_Author's note: Thanks again for the reviews and favorites and follows – it's so encouraging! This is a long chapter – you might want to grab a cup of tea before you start reading - I hope you'll agree that I made the right choice about not cutting the story at an earlier point though. Enjoy!_**

Zoe woke up with her heart racing and a familiar feeling of panic. She had been dreaming that she was walking down a long flight of steps when she had missed a step and suddenly she was falling. This wasn't new - she had had a lot of falling dreams just after the divorce, and it didn't take a genius to realize they were about feeling out of control. She looked at the clock: 10:45. That meant she had only had about 20 minutes of sleep. She knew that, now that she'd had a panicky dream, it was going to be hard to keep herself from getting all stressed out again. She would never get back to sleep if that happened. Zoe decided to go downstairs and see if she could find a book on one of Harley's many bookshelves that would distract her from worrying about her mom's email and get her back into a happy place. She did not expect to find a copy of anything really light like "Bridget Jones' Diary" but there had to at least be a decent classic in there somewhere, "Emma" maybe, or "Pride and Prejudice."

She walked quietly down the stairs in her boxers and t-shirt, noticing that the lights were still on. She realized that Harley must still have been up. As she got to the bottom of the staircase she was surprised to hear voices coming from the front porch. Zoe wondered who could be here at this time of night. The front door was ajar and she opened it a bit wider to see Harley talking to Wade, of all people.

"Wade?" she said without thinking.

"Zoe!" Harley said. "Sorry - did we wake you?"

"No, no… I had a bad dream and I came down to get a book to get my mind off it. What's going on? Is everything okay?"

"I came over to slide a note under the front door for you, but…," Wade started.

"I caught him in the act!" Harley smiled.

"I just wanted to see if I could give you a ride to school in the mornin'," Wade explained. "I forgot to mention it earlier."

"Oh. Yeah, that would be nice. Thanks," Zoe said, so happy to see him there. At that moment she felt like a hug from Wade would do more to make her feel better than Jane Austen ever could, and her brain was desperately trying to come up with a way to make it happen.

"Okay, well now that that's settled, perhaps we should all get to bed," Harley said.

"Actually, wait!" Zoe spoke up even though she had no idea what she was going to say. There wasn't time to concoct a story or make up an excuse, she'd just have to go with honesty. "Um, I know it's late, but if it's okay with you, Harley, I'd actually really like to talk to Wade for a little while…"

Harley was looking at her in surprise and it was obvious he didn't think that a late night chat with Wade was such a good idea. She'd have to give him a bit more of a reason.

"It's just that I had an email before that kind of upset me. I think that's why I had the bad dream. And I think it would really help me sleep if I could just talk it over with Wade for a little bit…," she was rambling now, but she couldn't help it. She_ really_ didn't want Wade to leave.

Now Harley looked more worried than uncertain.

"Well, in that case, okay, I guess…," Harley said, somewhat reluctantly. "But don't be too late, okay? I'll be reading in my study if you need me." He turned to go, but then he added, "And do you have a robe or something? It seems that you have an audience." He nodded subtly in the direction of the house across the street. The old lady that lived there, someone whose name Zoe didn't remember, was standing at the window, looking their way. It seemed that she had been going to draw the curtains closed, but had changed her mind when she saw the group congregated on Harley's front porch.

"Oh, um, I'll go upstairs and get a cardigan," Zoe said, noticing that Wade was trying not to smile. "Thanks Harley."

When Zoe got back downstairs, wrapped in an oversized cardigan, Wade was sitting on the porch swing, with a knitted red and white Crimson Tide blanket folded up on the swing next to him. He lifted it up and shook it out when he saw her.

"Harley brought this out in case you got cold," Wade said, spreading it over her lap as she sat down and whispering in her ear, "I think he's trying to keep old Mrs. Fairweather over there happy – this looks like something she would have knitted."

"Harley Wilkes: master manipulator… Who would have guessed?" she whispered back. "Oh well, if it makes it less likely that she'll say nasty things about us, then I'm all for it!" She finished arranging the blanket and turned to Wade, suddenly nervous. This wasn't how she normally operated. She would have liked some time to plan what to say.

"Um…, I don't really know where to start," she admitted.

"Well, you said you got an email. How about you tell me who it was from?" Wade glanced at the window across the street and when he saw that Mrs. Fairweather had gone, for the moment at least, he took the opportunity to grab her hand from where it lay in her lap. He gripped it firmly and moved so that their interlaced fingers were hidden under the blanket between them.

"Well, it was from my mom," she said, making a face, "but I think I'm going to have to start by explaining what came before the email…"

"Okay."

"Well, I told you how my mom and dad split up, right?"

"Yep."

"And how I wanted to live with my dad, but then he accepted this job in Europe…"

"I remember," he said, and squeezed her hand.

"So, when that happened it meant that I had two choices: I could live with mom and Rodriguez and carry on at my old school and everything, or I could move down here to Bluebell and stay with Harley – go to school here. And I chose Bluebell."

"And I am very grateful that you did," Wade grinned.

With that comment Zoe realized that in many ways Wade was probably not the best person to talk to about this, but she couldn't stop now. She'd just have to try to put it in the best way possible.

"Well, I don't want you to think I'm a heartless bitch or anything…"

His eyebrows shot up.

"… but keep in mind that I didn't know anything about Harley, or Bluebell, or Alabama, or, well, anything… I didn't know how much it would mean to Harley to have me here… Well, anyway, I knew I couldn't live with mom and that idiot, so I thought that coming here would be the best option… until my dad came back to New York and I could move back and live with him." She waited for the words to sink in, seeing the realization dawn in his eyes.

"Hang on, you're not stayin'?"

"Wait – hear me out. It's not as simple as that. Let me finish, okay?"

"Okay," he said slowly. She didn't like the guardedness that had come over his face, but she took comfort from the fact that he hadn't let go of her hand. It was her turn to give him a squeeze, and she was relieved when he squeezed her hand back.

"When I first got here I found it tough. Really tough. Everything was so different, I didn't know anyone, and I was pretty lonely… So, I decided I would concentrate on working out a way to get back to New York – but of course not living with my mom. I did all this research and made up this full-on plan for how we could make it work, and I sent it to my dad."

XXXX

As soon as she said that she had sent the plan, whatever it was, to her dad, Wade could guess that he had let her down. The fact that they both had fathers who let them down seemed to be one of the few things that he and Zoe Hart had in common, and he could guess from what Harley had said that first night when Zoe's dad hadn't called, and from the fact that he had left her and moved to Europe right after the divorce, that the great Dr. Hart had probably not been on board with her grand plan. What Wade really wanted to know was whether or not she still wanted to go back to New York, but now wasn't the time to ask. Zoe needed someone to talk to and she had asked for him. That was pretty damn special and he was determined not to screw it up.

"What was the plan Zoe?"

She sighed before she answered. "Well, I found this amazing school in Connecticut – that's like right next to New York…"

"I know where Connecticut is Zoe," Wade said. Actually, he didn't have the clearest picture of exactly where it was on the map, but he didn't want her thinking he was ignorant.

"Right," she continued. "Well, anyway, one reason I chose that school was because it has a special academic track for people who are planning to become doctors." Wade nodded, although he had had no idea that such things existed. "But the other reason that I chose it," she continued, "was that it was a boarding school."

"So your plan was to move back to New York but not live in New York and not live with your mom _or_ your dad?" he asked, confused.

"No… well, not really… I mean it's just that my dad is like_ really _busy. Like _really_ busy. I mean it's not like with Harley, how he's home in time for dinner every night. And sometimes he has to stay away overnight for conferences and stuff, and well he doesn't have time to do grocery shopping and stuff."

Wade was becoming more and more convinced that Zoe's dad was a complete douche bag. Who didn't have time to go grocery shopping? But that wasn't the issue here, he reminded himself.

"Right, so, boarding school…" he said.

"Yeah, well I figured that if I went to boarding school, I could just go and stay with Dad on the weekends – well the weekends when he wasn't too busy anyway. But the rest of the time I'd be out of his hair, you know?"

"Uh huh," Wade said, for lack of anything better to say. There was plenty that he wanted to say. Like that, as far as he could see, her dad didn't deserve a daughter like Zoe Hart. How could he have someone so special as a daughter and yet make her feel like a nuisance, like she needed to come up with a grand scheme to stay "out of his hair"?

"Anyway," and now he could see the hurt on her face as she remembered, "once I had all the details sorted, I sent him an email outlining the whole plan…"

"And how did he react?" Wade asked, knowing that it wouldn't have been how she had hoped.

"Well, that's just it. He didn't really…"

"What? So he ignored it?"

"Well, yeah, at first. And then I sent it to him again, and then I asked him if he got it…"

"Oh Zoe…," he said, squeezing her hand again. All he wanted to do was to wrap his arms around her and make her feel better, but she needed to finish her story – and he needed to hear it all as well.

"So, after a while he told me that he'd gotten it and that he would look over it. And then… well nothing, until today."

"But you said the email today was from your mom, not your dad…"

"It was! That's just it – he told her! That's the worst part! He didn't even write back to me about it and then he just went ahead and told her… I don't get why he did that. I mean it was pretty obvious that the whole point was to do it _without_ mom! So why would he go and get her involved?" she said, and a tear rolled down her face. Wade couldn't stop himself from hugging her now. He untangled his fingers from hers and wrapped both arms around her, pulling him into his chest and stroked her hair. It was completely different from the way they had been earlier in the day. There was nothing sexual about it, but somehow it was just as intimate. All he wanted to do was to take away her pain, but he couldn't. He could only help her work through it, which is why he pulled away from her slightly, wiping the tears from her cheeks with his thumb and leaving her nestled into his side, but at least she could talk now that she wasn't crushed in his hug.

"And how did _she _react?" he asked. All he'd really heard about Zoe's mum so far was what she'd told him about the divorce and the boyfriend, so he had no idea what to expect, but it had upset Zoe, so it couldn't have been good.

"Well, the thing you have to understand about my mom is that she thinks she knows what's best for everyone. She just goes ahead and does what she thinks is right and expects everyone else to go along with it – and they usually do. I can tell you exactly what her email said because I read it so many times – plus it wasn't very long:

_'Dear Zoe,_

_Your father brought me up to speed on your "plan". I am glad to hear that you are ready to come back to New York, although I must say it would have been nice to hear about it from you directly, rather than via your father. To tell the truth I'm surprised that you've managed to last as long as you have in Hicksville! Of course, as I'm sure you must realize, a lot of the details of your plan are not practical, but we can discuss the details when you get home. Let me know when you want your ticket booked for and I'll make the arrangements._

_Ciao'_

That's what it said," Zoe finished.

"Ciao?" Wade asked incredulously.

"Mmmhmm."

"Wow Zoe, that's cold," he said before he could stop himself. He knew he had to tread carefully. He was very familiar with the strange way that a person could curse and criticize their own family, only to turn around and be angry or wounded if someone who wasn't family did the same thing. In fact on more than one occasion he'd decked one of his buddies for a derogatory comment about his dad, despite the fact that he had complained about Crazy Earl minutes beforehand. Still, somehow he felt that Zoe had to have someone in her corner, pointing out just how wrong it was for her parents to treat her this way. He'd have to choose his words very carefully.

"So, let me check that I've got this straight… Your dad told your mom about the plan that was supposed to be kept between you and him, and then your mom basically disregarded it – except for the part about moving back up north – and wants to put you on the next plane back to New York?"

"Yep – that about sums it up," she sighed sadly. "Why did he have to go and tell her? Now she's going to bulldoze me and make me do what _she_ wants. Next thing I know I'll be back in New York, living with her and loser lover boy, going to my old school… She thinks she can just switch Dad out for Rodriguez and that we'll carry on as before."

The thought of her going back to New York was devastating, but he had to know the truth, so he forced himself to ask, "Is that what you want? I mean do you still want to go back to New York?"

"Honestly?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Honestly."

"Honestly… I'm so confused. I love New York – it's where I grew up, and it's all I ever knew. And I've been so focused on getting back there – well until recently anyway." Wade felt a flicker of hope when she said that. "I miss my dad – not that he's even in New York. I even kind of miss my mom – but not this mom – the mom she used to be before Rodriguez. I mean we've never been super close or anything but we used to go shopping and… But then Wade, I feel like I've changed so much since I moved down here. I don't even know if I'll fit in in New York anymore!"

"How do you think you've changed?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"Well, I'm more relaxed. Not so uptight, not so stressed, for starters. And I'm more confident, I think – less timid."

"Wait – you were _timid_ in New York?"

"Well, not all the time… but about some things, yeah."

"Huh," Wade said, surprised.

"What does that mean?"

"I just can't imagine you being timid - ever. I always think of you as being fierce!"

"Fierce?!" she asked in surprise, sitting up straight so that she could see his face properly.

"Yeah – I mean you're feisty and _so_ determined. You've got more fight in you than just about anyone I know."

"Huh." It was her turn to be surprised.

"So you're gonna have to explain this timid thing to me… Paint me a picture – tell me a story about timid Zoe."

"Ummm, okay," she said, taking a couple of minutes of minutes to think before she spoke again. "Well, remember the study retreat I mentioned where I learned about the visual learner thing?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I took a few short art courses while I was there – trying to explore the visual side of things, you know?"

"Sure."

"And one of the instructors was really encouraging – she kept saying how I had an eye for color and form and texture. And she encouraged me to enter the artwork I was working on during the course in an art competition for high school students when I got back to New York. It was a collage and I had gotten right into it. I spent so much time on it and by the time I finished it was huge."

"Sounds like solid advice…"

"Well, my parents didn't think so. When I asked them to sign the permission form and to write a check for the entry fee they thought the whole idea was ridiculous. They said that they weren't paying all that money to the study retreat people for them to turn me into an artist – they were supposed to be getting me ready for college and med school. They didn't even want to see the collage and when I came home from school the next day it was gone."

"Gone?"

"Yep – I guess they threw it out."

"What do you mean you guess? You didn't ask them?" Wade was confused.

"Nope – I didn't want any drama. See? I told you… I was timid." More like bullied, Wade thought, feeling angry at the thought of anyone treating Zoe in that way. What was wrong with these people?

"Wow, Zoe. That sucks! I wish I could have seen it. I can't believe they threw it away."

"Oh well, it doesn't matter now. I haven't thought about that whole thing for a long time. But you see, the thing is that since I came here I've been left to make my own decisions. I mean, I know Harley cares and everything, but it's like he trusts me to decide things for myself. And I've kind of gotten used to it. It's nice to be treated like you're smart enough to make your own decisions. I don't think I want to go back to the old timid version of me – doing what my parents think is best all the time… Somehow Harley has given me confidence. And so have you!" she looked at him and smiled shyly as she said the last part.

"Me?" Wade asked surprised. "How have I given you confidence?"

"Well, with the driving for starters – you're always getting me to do things I don't think I can do, and then you act like it's no surprise at all when I pull it off," she paused before continuing. "And I don't want to give you a big head or anything, but having the cutest guy in Bluebell tell me he's nuts about me has done wonders for my ego…"

"Cutest guy in Bluebell, huh?" he grinned, unable to hide how happy he was to hear her say that. "Just Bluebell? Not Alabama?" he teased.

"Well… I haven't seen much else of Alabama yet, so I really can't say…," she teased back.

"C'mere you!" he grabbed her and hugged her to him again, kissing the top of her head. Suddenly he remembered Mrs. Fairweather and was relieved to see that now her curtains were closed.

He sighed, realizing that they had to return to the serious stuff.

"So, did you reply to your mom yet?" he asked.

"Yeah – just a quick email to stall her. I didn't want her to call Harley or anything."

"Good thinking. Harley needs to hear about this from you – whether you decide to stay in Bluebell or go back to New York. Plus it doesn't sound like your mom would break it to him very gently…"

"No, she doesn't believe in sugar coating things." Even if that means hurting people, thought Wade, but he didn't say it out loud.

"So," he said, forcing himself to be strong and carry on with this conversation that he really didn't want to have, "I guess now you've got two things to figure out."

"Two things?" she asked, confused.

"Yep – the first one is whether you want to stay in Bluebell or go back to New York, and second you need to ask your dad why he went behind your back and spoke to your mom."

"You think I should just ask him?"

"Can't think of a better way to find out…" Wade shrugged.

"I guess…" she said uncertainly.

"Look, I know it's scary but it's gotta be better than tryin' to figure it out on your own… Plus, if you ask me, he deserves to be told that what he did was not cool. Maybe he needs to have a dose of the new fierce Zoe Hart!" he smiled at her and gave her squeeze.

She smiled at that. "You know what? You're right! I'm going to send him an email and let him know how I feel about him telling mom – and ask him why he did it! Let's do it now!" she said, standing up and pulling his hand, trying to get him to stand up and follow her inside.

"Woah! As much as I would love to accompany you into your bedroom," he said smiling, "I value my life and there is no way on earth that I am going to go upstairs with you in your pjs at 11:30 at night – even if it is just to send an email! Harley would kill me!"

"Okay – point taken," she said reluctantly. "But there's a good chance that he will be online at this time so I'm going to go and send that email before I chicken out. Would you mind staying for a bit longer? I'm sorry for being such a wuss… But having you here makes me feel brave."

"Take as long as you need. I'll be right here," Wade said. After she went inside he let himself smile. She had said he made her brave, and that he gave her confidence, and that he was the cutest guy in Bluebell! How in hell did he get so lucky? And then he remembered that she might be leaving. He couldn't bear to think about it, not only because he didn't want to imagine his life without Zoe Hart in it, but also because nothing she had said about her parents or her life in New York made him think it was a good idea for her to go back there. He knew that, as much as he wanted to, he couldn't advise her, or even ask her, to stay – she needed to make that decision for herself. But he would do his damnedest to help her realize that Bluebell was the best place for her right now. There was no doubt in his mind that, between them, he and Harley could do a better job of making Zoe happy than those clueless parents of hers.

**_Well, what did you think? Let me know! I love reading your reviews!_**


	12. Chapter 12

**_Author's note: Thanks for the reviews and follows and favorites – again! I really do appreciate them. Also, a special thank you to those who have said they like the talks that Zoe and Wade have in this story. They are usually my favorite parts to write so I'm glad you like them! I hope you like this new chapter as well._**

Zoe had meant what she had said to Wade. He did make her feel brave. And she really needed to hang on to that courage right now, she reminded herself as she hurried upstairs to send the email to her dad before she changed her mind. Wade was so fearless. She knew that he had no idea what a big deal this was for her. How could he? He didn't know her well enough. They didn't know _each other _that well yet.

When she thought about it that way it was amazing really that she felt as comfortable with him as she did. She was not normally the kind of person who let her guard down. But Wade was special. Wow, she thought as she waited for the computer to come on, if she felt like this about Wade now, how was she going to be once they had actually been going out for a while? Then she realized that if she moved back to New York that would never happen, and although it should have been obvious, the thought gave her a jolt. She really didn't like the thought of not getting a chance to explore this thing with Wade.

She could almost hear her parent's voices in her head - a result of the close control they had had over her until the divorce. She knew that they would say that it was ridiculous for her, at sixteen, to factor in a boyfriend (and actually he wasn't even her boyfriend… yet) when making a potentially life-altering decision, such as where she was going to live and go to school. And maybe it was. But then, what did her parents know about love, or happiness for that matter? Besides, it wasn't just the romance with Wade that she was thinking of. It was about who she was around him – who she was becoming, and who she could potentially become. He had said that he thought of her as _fierce_! She knew without a doubt her parents would find the idea of her being fierce ridiculous. Not only would they think that it was not true, they would also think that it was an undesirable thing for her to be. Fierce was not on any list of traits they wanted their daughter to have. Smart, diligent, likeable, rational, demure…malleable. They were the things they wanted their daughter to be. But Zoe was starting to realize that maybe she had something else in her. She might be able to make her own path.

Finally her email account appeared on the screen and she wrote the email quickly:

_Dear Dad,_

_I got an email from Mom today. She wants me to come back to New York. She said that you told her about my plan. I am really disappointed that you told her about the plan without talking to me first, and I don't understand why you did that. I am writing this email because I want to ask you why you told her. Maybe you have a good reason that I just don't know about, but right now I am very hurt and confused._

_Please write back soon._

_Love,_

_Zoe_

She clicked send before she lost her courage. Now she just had to wait for a reply. She didn't expect one straight away – after all it would probably take him a while to get over the shock of her having the nerve to say that she was disappointed in something he had done! She knew that to the outside observer the email probably looked perfectly civil, but for the Hart family this was a huge moment. Zoe _never_ questioned her father, never criticized him. Her role had always been to play the adoring daughter, and she had never wanted to ruin the precious moments they had together – especially since she didn't know when she'd get to spend time with him again. She had no idea how he would react.

She went back downstairs to tell Wade that she had sent the email off. On the way she saw that the grandfather clock in the front hall said that it was 12:30. It was a wonder that Harley hadn't come out to tell them off – she snuck a peek into his study and saw that he had dozed off in his armchair, his book still open in his lap. She had better send Wade home before Harley woke up and got him in trouble.

"I did it!" she told him proudly as she came out onto the front porch.

"Nice!" he said.

"But I just looked at the time and it's 12:30! You'd better go. Won't your dad be freaking out?"

A shadow passed over his face and he said, "I don't need to worry about my dad freaking out – but I _do_ need to worry about Harley! I'd better go before he comes out!"

"I checked – he's dozed off in his study."

"Well in that case…," he said, checking to see that all the lights were out in Mrs. Fairweather's house, "maybe I can give you a proper kiss goodnight?" He was smiling but it wasn't his usual cocky grin – he looked almost shy.

"I'd like that," she smiled back at him.

With that he got up from the porch swing and took her waist in one hand, while he gently pushed the hair away from her face with the other hand. She looked up at him in anticipation and he cradled her face as he leaned in to kiss her. As his lips met hers she found one hand resting against his chest, where she could feel his muscles through his soft t-shirt.

Once again that other Zoe come out and took over, so that the next thing she knew her fingers were threading through his hair and she was pulling him in closer to her. Maybe it was the hours they had spent together that day, talking and holding hands, that made the kiss so intense. His tongue was in her mouth and hers was in his, which was something that she had honestly never imagined could feel this amazing, and his hand in the small of her back as he held her tight felt like it was right where it was supposed to be.

When he finally pulled away she let out a soft, and completely involuntary, groan before she reluctantly opened her eyes. He looked at her and his eyes were dark as he said softly, "Girl, you can't be makin' noises like that! Not if you ever want me to stop."

"What if I _don't _want you to stop?" she whispered, looking up at him and begging him with her eyes to go back to kissing her.

"God Zoe, you are so damn sexy…" he growled as he grabbed her in his arms again and took up where they left off. But the kiss was shorter this time. He broke it off and took a step back, shaking his head.

"No," he said, "we can't do this now. If Harley wakes up he'll _kill_ me, or ban me from seein' you – which I don't think I could stand. I'll see you in the morning when I come to pick you up, okay?"

"Okay," said, smiling shyly, but unable to wipe the smile off her face after the things he had just said.

He gave her one last quick kiss and then turned and jogged softly down the steps. She watched him go, finding it hard to believe that this gorgeous guy was apparently driven wild by her – timid old Zoe Hart.

XXXXX

"So did your dad reply yet?" he asked her, once they were both seated in the truck. He really wanted to kiss her good morning but Harley was still standing on the front porch, so he had to hold back.

"Nope – no word so far. I just hope he's not consulting my mom again."

"Wow – I didn't think of that possibility…"

"Neither did I, until about 4 o'clock this morning…" she said ruefully.

"Oh Zoe, have you been up all night worryin' about this?"

"Actually, I slept like a log until four – thanks to you!"

"Me?"

"Yeah you – I meant what I said last night to Harley. I thought that talking to you about all this would help, and it did."

"And here I was thinkin' that that was all just a ruse so that you could spend a bit more time with me!" he joked, although he was actually really happy to hear her say that he had helped.

"Well… that might have been part of it," she smiled at him.

"Oh really?" He grinned and reached across to grab her hand and give it a quick kiss. But their hand holding didn't last long thanks to the old truck – it had a column stick shift and was temperamental if the gears didn't get changed quickly, so he soon had to let go of her hand to drive. One good thing about the truck though was that it had a bench front seat, and before he knew it Zoe had shuffled over as far as her seatbelt would let her and shyly put her hand on his thigh. He grinned down at her. He could get used to this.

"And did you talk to Harley?"

"No. I feel like I can't until I know what I want to do…"

"Well, okay. But he looked real worried. You should probably put him out of his misery sooner rather than later."

"I know."

They pulled in to the school parking lot and he cut the engine and took off his seatbelt as he turned to her.

"Now," he said, unlatching her seatbelt, "I've been dyin' to kiss you good mornin' since the second you came out your front door…"

She smiled.

"Well, I wouldn't want to have a death on my hands…"

"No, you wouldn't!" he said as he leaned in and kissed her. This time he was prepared for the hand at the back of his head, but it wasn't any less hot than it had been yesterday. She had no idea of the effect she had on him. They were wrapped up in one another's arms, absorbed in their own world when he became aware of a banging on the window of the truck and a whole lot of noise. Was that clapping that he could hear? What the hell?

He broke free of the kiss and looked around to see Meatball's face pressed up against the driver's window, making stupid faces as he banged on the window with both hands. Then he noticed that quite a crowd had gathered round his truck and they were clapping and laughing, and he could hear wolf whistles too. Ah, crap, he thought. He looked at Zoe and sure enough she was freaking out. Her mouth was hanging open, she was bright red, and she couldn't look him in the eye.

"What the hell?!" she finally said.

"Listen, Zoe, don't worry – I'll take care of it. I'll talk to Meatball, just stay here for a sec, okay?"

He opened the door of the truck forcefully, not caring that the action sent Meatball flying.

"What is _wrong _with you?!" he said angrily. Most of the other people standing around seemed to pick up on the fact that he was pissed, and they suddenly went quiet. But Meatball was oblivious.

"Niiiiice work dude! I thought you were never gonna get anywhere with the New York ice queen, but it sure looks like you melted _her_ ice! Know what I'm talkin' about? Just goes to prove what I always say: Wade Kinsella's got more moves than a barrel of monkeys! I mean, now we know that the Kinsella magic can get even the most frigid girl trembling at the kne…"

Wade's fist seemed to move of its own volition, connecting with Meatball's cheekbone. He watched as Meatball sunk to the ground, and was considering taking another swing when he heard a door slam and swung around to see Zoe running across the parking lot towards the school.

"Zoe! Wait!" he called out, but she didn't even turn around.

He grabbed his bag from the truck and slammed the door. Before he followed Zoe he glared at the group of people standing around, which he now realized was even bigger than before.

"Enjoy the show did you? Bunch of friggin' busybodies… " he said angrily, turning to run after Zoe.

He reached the school just in time to see her disappear into the girls' bathroom. Well that was just great… What was he supposed to do now? Then he saw Lemon just down the hall, talking to her friend Cricket. He ran over to her and grabbed her arm, pulling her toward the door Zoe had disappeared behind.

"Lemon! I need you to do me a favor! Can you go inside and check on Zoe, see if she's okay?"

"What? Zoe Hart? Now why on earth would I do that?"

"C'mon Lemon – I'll explain later. Just please do this for me."

"Not until you explain what is going on," Lemon said firmly. Wade knew that she realized she was the one with the power in this situation and she wasn't going to let an opportunity like that slip through her fingers.

"Fine," he said resigning himself to the fact that he would have to do things Lemon's way. "Zoe and I were kissing in the car…"

Lemon raised her eyebrows.

"Yes Lemon, kissing! Anyway, stupid Meatball just had to come along and draw everyone's attention to us, and next thing I know there's a bunch of people around us, whistlin' and that, and when I got out of the truck to make them stop Meatball started saying all kinds of crap, so I punched him, and Zoe freaked out, and she ran in there!" he said, gesturing to the door of the girls' bathroom. "And since _I _can't go in _there_, can _you_ please just go in there and check on her. Tell her I'm out here. Can you do that?"

Lemon bit her lip thinking, and then she crossed her arms and said, "No, I won't do it!"

"Wha… Why not?"

"Well, for one, I have no interest in helping you to get into Zoe Hart's pants!"

"Lemon, it ain't like that with me and Zoe!"

"You seriously expect me to believe that?!"

"Look, Lemon, I don't care what you believe. But Zoe is upset. So, whether you believe me or not, can you just go in there and check that she is okay?"

"No."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Wade couldn't believe she was being so difficult.

"Why _should_ I be nice to Zoe Hart? She's a stuck-up, snooty Yankee who thinks she is too good for Bluebell. I _tried_ bein' friendly to her when she first got to town and she brushed me off. She's got no manners and she's downright…"

"Y'know what Lemon? You are bein' a grade A bitch!"

He saw a look of shock on her face at him saying that, but damn it - she deserved it.

"Ah, forget about it! I'll go in there myself!" And with that he strode over to the door and pushed against it.

"WADE KINSELLA!" He froze at the sound of Mrs. Harper's voice. "Would you like to explain to me what you are doing going into the girls' bathroom?"

Well he wouldn't be going in to check on Zoe now.

"Um," he said, turning around, "Is this the girls' bathroom? Ah, so it is. Innocent mistake… I'll just…" he started to head down the corridor, but he was stopped by the same voice.

"And I suppose you are going to tell me that the damage you did to your friend's face was an innocent mistake as well?!"

And with that he knew he was screwed. He cast a look back at the door, hoping that maybe Zoe would have emerged, but she hadn't. Mrs. Harper looked pissed and Wade reluctantly made his way over to her, wondering what his punishment would be.

**_Author's note: Please let me know what you thought! I love hearing which parts you liked and what you hope will happen next. Thanks!_**


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